Over 50 Minors Hold More Than 1 Billion Won in South Korean Commercial Banks: "Golden Spoon" Accounts

It has been revealed that more than 50 minors in South Korea hold deposits and savings accounts with balances exceeding 1 billion won at domestic banks.

The total balance of deposits and savings under the names of minor customers approached 10 trillion won.

The total balance held by infants aged 0 to 5 also exceeded 2 trillion won.

According to data submitted by Representative Park Sung-hoon of the People Power Party, a member of the National Assembly's National Policy Committee, from the Korea Federation of Banks on the 5th, the total deposits and savings balance of minors aged 18 or younger across 19 domestic commercial banks stood at 9.7413 trillion won as of the end of July this year.

This figure combines demand deposits, time deposits, and installment savings, marking an increase of 1.4548 trillion won (17.6%) compared to the end of 2022 (8.2865 trillion won).

Over the same period, the number of deposit and savings accounts held by minors rose by 2,379,114 (36.0%), from 6,615,941 to 8,995,055.

Looking at the individual total balances, which combine all deposits and savings held by a single minor across multiple accounts, a considerable number of minors were found to hold large-scale financial assets.

As of the end of July, there were 2,419 minors with combined deposit and savings balances ranging from 100 million won to less than 500 million won, 124 with balances from 500 million won to less than 1 billion won, and 52 with balances of 1 billion won or more.

Minors holding 100 million won or more totaled 2,595.

Among them, 176 held 500 million won or more.

The number of minors holding 1 billion won or more increased by 10 from 42 at the end of last year.

During the same period, the number of customers holding 100 million won or more increased by 12 from 2,583.

Categorized by bank, Hana Bank had the highest number of minors holding 100 million won or more with 566, followed by KB Kookmin Bank (540), Shinhan Bank (437), Woori Bank (422), and NH Nonghyup Bank (172).

Particularly for minors holding 1 billion won or more, they were heavily concentrated in Hana Bank (14) and Shinhan Bank (12).

These figures are the sum of totals reported by each bank, meaning minors using multiple banks may have been counted redundantly.

On the other hand, 5,602,273 minors had deposit and savings balances of less than 1 million won, accounting for 77.5% of the total 7,227,938 minors holding deposits and savings.

This means the vast majority of minors hold only small sums in their accounts.


Even when looking at balances on a per-account basis rather than by individual, the scale of funds was substantial.

The total balance of minor-held accounts containing 1 billion won or more reached approximately 514 billion won as of the end of July.

Among these, accounts with balances ranging from 500 million won to less than 1 billion won held about 63.9 billion won, while accounts with 1 billion won or more held about 67.2 billion won.

By age group, deposits and savings under the names of children aged 0 to 5 amounted to 2.1399 trillion won, accounting for 22.0% of all minor deposits and savings.

The number of accounts held by this age group was 1,123,996.

The age group with the highest balance was 6 to 12 years old, holding 3.5864 trillion won.

Those aged 16 to 18 held 2.1463 trillion won, and those aged 13 to 15 held 1.8688 trillion won.

The holding of large financial assets by minors was also evident in the stock market.

According separate data submitted to Representative Park Sung-hoon by the Korea Securities Depository, 5,400 minors held domestic listed stocks worth 100 million won or more at the end of last year.

The total value of domestic listed stocks held by minors amounted to 7.3113 trillion won.

Representative Park stated, "While legitimate inheritance or asset formation should not be brought into question, it is necessary to closely examine whether there are any blind spots regarding the sources of funds and gift tax reports in the process of transferring massive financial assets to minors."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.