The ceremony and the new vision
Construction Industry Guarantee (CI Guarantee), South Korea's leading operator of guarantees for the construction sector, celebrated its thirtieth anniversary on Thursday with a ceremony at the Westin Josun in Seoul, attended by about 250 guests. According to The Korea Herald, participants included Kim Sung-hwan, director of the construction division at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Nam Young-hee, Incheon deputy mayor for balanced development, as well as former presidents and executives of member companies.
On that occasion, the institution presented a new long-term vision, summarized in the slogan 'A leap in trust: building the next 100 years through AI innovation.' The stated goal is twofold: to improve safety and efficiency in asset management and to introduce activities based on artificial intelligence, alongside an update of digital financial services to make members' access more convenient.
The leadership's remarks and the growth figures
Choi Un-gu, acting president of CI Guarantee, linked the anniversary to the history of its members: "CI Guarantee's thirty-year history is a history of partnership, built on the trust and solidarity of our members as we faced difficult times together." He added that the institution intends to "embrace AI and digital innovation" to become "a more accessible and reliable financial partner," helping to shape the next hundred years of the mechanical construction sector.
The source material offers some useful data for measuring the transformation. The organization was established in May 1966 with government approval and 3,221 member companies; by the end of 2025 membership had risen to 10,054, with total assets of 1.55 trillion won, equivalent to about 1.16 billion dollars. Founded to provide guarantees on construction-related transactions, CI Guarantee later extended its activity to credit and mutual aid, with eight dedicated products.
What changes and what remains to be verified
On the services front, the source indicates that the institution has reduced guarantee and mutual-aid fees and expanded its digital offering, including self-service guarantees and services via Kakao, with the aim of containing costs and improving accessibility for members. These are measures already announced or launched, distinct from the AI vision presented at the thirtieth anniversary.
The news has concrete significance for the South Korean construction sector, because the operator is the sector's main guarantee provider and its ability to innovate affects the conditions for access to credit and the guarantees of member companies. However, the material does not specify which artificial intelligence applications will be introduced, on what timeline, or what resources will be allocated to the plan; it also does not clarify whether the announced vision changes existing fees or products. These aspects remain to be verified. The reference to possible repercussions for Korean HBM manufacturers and Google's partnership with Tmap on the page is not connected to the article and is not included.
