In re Samcheok Blue Power Corporate Bond Credit Rating

On January 20, 2026, Solutions for Our Climate (SFOC), a climate advocacy group, filed a complaint with the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) against NICE Investors Service and Korea Ratings, alleging that their credit rating reports for Samcheok Blue Power's unsecured corporate bonds violated Article 335-11(1) of the Capital Markets Act and Article 8-19-9(1) of the Financial Investment Business Regulations by assigning an A+(Stable) rating in a manner inconsistent with their own publicly disclosed rating methodologies.

The complainant argued that the A+ rating was driven by an inflated business risk grade of 'AA' that was not reasonably possible under the agencies' own published methodologies once three critical negative factors were properly weighted: (i) the government's 2040 coal phase-out policy, formally declared at COP30 in November 2025, which would force Samcheok Blue Power into early closure within approximately 15 years — far short of its 30-year design life; (ii) the prolonged delay in the East Coast transmission line construction, which had already been extended to at least June 2027 and had resulted in an actual operating rate of their power plants less than 15% as of mid-2025; and (iii) the risk to retail investors, who had become the primary buyers of the bonds as institutional investors withdrew on ESG grounds.

On March 26, 2026, the FSS closed the complaint without finding a violation, concluding that while the two parties disagreed on the assumptions and methodology underlying the rating, no explicit violation of the Capital Markets Act was identified, noting that the agencies acknowledged the coal phase-out policy as a key factor but stated they would reassess business risk only if the forthcoming 12th Basic Plan for Electricity Supply and Demand contained concrete adverse changes for Samcheok Blue Power.