[Photo by Lee Seung-hwan]

South Korea’s Yoon Suk-yeol government completes its new financial team lineup with the appointment of former financial ministry official and ex-prosecutor as new heads to supervise the financial market of Asia’s fourth largest economy, raising expectations for strong enforcement of financial policies.

On Tuesday, President Yoon picked Kim Joo-hyun, chair of the Credit Finance Association to lead the Financial Services Commission (FSC), Korea’s top financial policymaking body. After working in various high-ranking positions in financial organizations, including the Financial Ministry, the FSC and the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation, Kim has led the Credit Finance Association since 2019.

Kim will work with Kim So-young, a Seoul National University economics professor, who was named as the deputy head of the FSC on May 17. She was a member of the presidential transition team, playing a key role in drawing up macroeconomic policy directions for the new administration.

이미지 확대

In a surprise move, Lee Bok-hyun, former chief public prosecutor at the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors’ Office, was appointed to lead the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), the country’s integrated financial market policing authority. This is the first time for the FSS to have a former prosecutor as its chief. Previously, scholars or ex-government officials led the watchdog. Lee has worked on various financial and economic crime investigations throughout his career.

Kang Seog-hoon, an economics professor at Sungshin Women’s University and former presidential chief economics officer during the Park Geun-hye administration, was named to lead state-owned policy bank Korea Development Bank (KDB). Kang is a financial policy expert, having served as a lawmaker as well as a key presidential aide. He also worked on President Yoon’s transition team. His appointment gains attention as the state-run bank has many challenges to resolve, including the bank’s relocation to Busan.

The latest appointments of the key positions in the nation’s financial authorities complete the Yoon administration’s new financial team led by Choo Kyung-ho, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance. The lineup composed of former government officials, scholars, and prosecutor is expected to create synergy in delivering strong financial policies, stabilizing the market, and consumer protection.

But some raise concerns that the heads from such diverse backgrounds could make it hard for them to reach agreements on designing policies and regulations.

By Kim Yoo-sin and Jenny Lee

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]