The Bank of Korea has pledged to supply more liquidity to struggle shipyards and shipowners.
Governor Lee Ju-yeol told the Korea Times the lender wants to play an active role in the restructuring of companies like DSME, HMM and Hanjin Shipping.
This could be through a form of quantitative easing, which is when a central bank purchases government securities or other securities from the market in order to lower interest rates and increase the money supply.
"We will actively carry out a role necessary for corporate restructuring," Lee told senior bank officials. "As the discussion is ongoing regarding corporate restructuring, we need to thoroughly check the role the central bank can take."
Liquidity would fund state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) and Korea Export-Import Bank, two major creditors of yards and owners.
But Moon Hong-chul, an analyst at Dongbu Securities, said the 'easy money' could be abused if a precedent is set.
"There is no evidence that quantitative easing has succeeded in raising growth or expectations on inflation in developed economies," he added.
"Quantitative easing can lead to uncertainties in the financial market following changes in the value of the won."
