"Korean commercial and private banks have agreed to consolidate some form of funds, which will provide an additional USD 7.5 billion," Sung Il was quoted as saying in an interview with the defence24.pl website on Friday.
"We have put a lot of effort into increasing the capital of the Export-Import Bank of Korea," Sung said.
"Under the new law, we can grant Poland a loan of USD 8.5 billion," he added.
In February, South Korea's parliament passed legislation to ease restrictions on import-export lending to support new defence sales, boosting the possible equity capital of the state-run Export-Import Bank of Korea to 25 trillion won (USD 18.79 billion).
Poland is seen as a large beneficiary of the new Korean legislation which should help with large defence deals such as the 22 billion dollars in weapons purchases signed with Warsaw in 2022, South Korea's biggest weapons sale ever.
Faced with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, neighbouring Poland has been ramping up defence spending and South Korea has emerged as a key supplier.
However, there had been concerns over the status of South Korean loans to finance the deals and over how a change of government in Warsaw could affect them.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told his South Korean counterpart Cho Tae-yul during a phone call late on Friday that the new Polish government respects the previous administration's defence contract and will continue to implement it, South Korea's foreign ministry said in a statement.
In response, Cho mentioned South Korea's recent legislation on import-export lending and said he hoped follow-up contracts with Poland would be signed shortly.
(mo)
Source: PAP, Reuters