KEXIM chief tells National Assembly it has no plan to sell its 26.41 percent KAI stake; KAI CEO says ownership will not change without employee consent

At the Strategy and Finance Committee audit of the Export-Import Bank of Korea on October 20, 2026, KEXIM president Hwang Ki-yeon said the bank has no current plan to sell its 26.41 percent stake in Korea Aerospace Industries and that a sale was not the premise of a 1.8 billion won aerospace competitiveness consulting contract whose timing lawmakers had linked to Hanwha Group raising its holding to 15.89 percent, while adding that future plans could not be ruled out. KAI president Kim Jong-chul, appearing as a witness, said the governance of KAI would not change without the consent of its members, that everyone wants KAI but not just anyone can have it, and that while Hanwha cannot be stopped from buying shares on the exchange, taking management control is practically difficult and would risk a monopoly that shrinks the aerospace ecosystem. He confirmed working-level discussions on information access for Hanwha management participation but said no formal written request had been made. Committee chair Cho Seung-rae warned that Hanwha could become the largest shareholder through allied holders and urged monitoring. KED Global described the statements as a fresh setback for Hanwha plans to assemble a Korean counterpart to Lockheed Martin.