Hana Bank said on Monday it has signed a "financial support business agreement to foster the K-content industry" with the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund and the Korea Creative Content Agency to strengthen the competitiveness of South Korea's cultural content industry and support the global spread of K-content.

The agreement was set up to support cultural content companies that have original ideas and creativity but face difficulties raising funds.

Hana Bank will contribute 1 billion won to the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund, including 700 million won as a special contribution and 300 million won to support guarantee fees. Eligible companies are expected to face less burden in executing loans through full guarantees and to reduce financial costs with guarantee fee support of 1.0 percent a year.

Eligible companies are those covered by completion guarantees for the cultural industry and specialised guarantees recommended by the Korea Creative Content Agency, including content planning and production companies.

Seo Yu-seok (서유석), a deputy head of Hana Bank's Corporate Group, said the agreement was meaningful in helping K-content secure sustainable competitiveness in the global market beyond simple funding support. He said the bank would continue to actively support financing so that content companies can commercialise creative ideas.