Kakao will build a nationwide artificial intelligence service using KakaoTalk and phone access with 14 companies and institutions including LG Uplus. Kakao said on Aug. 28 its consortium was selected as the operator for the Ministry of Science and ICT programme supporting universal use of AI services, dubbed \"AI for Everyone\". The service will include a general chatbot, public AI agents and specialised agents, with a beta due in September and a formal launch planned this year.

South Korea\'s Financial Services Commission\'s mid-rate livelihood stability loan, introduced to support living expenses for mid- and low-credit borrowers, is spreading mainly among non-bank lenders. The product was first launched by six savings banks and has since been rolled out by additional savings banks and capital firms. Major commercial banks have not launched it separately and say plans remain undecided, though they have introduced their own mid-rate and inclusive finance products. Regulators are expanding household-loan volume management incentives for mid-rate lending, which could boost supply.