As the appointments of the chief executive officers (CEOs) of NongHyup Financial Group and its affiliates have been finalized, evaluations suggest that Chairman Kang Ho-dong of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation has strengthened his organizational control. The next CEOs of key affiliates including NongHyup Bank, NongHyup Life Insurance, and NongHyup Property & Casualty Insurance are said to be individuals close to Chairman Kang. Additionally, the return of 'old boys' who have been retired for several years continues.
The Financial Supervisory Service conducted a large-scale inspection at the beginning of last year, stating that it would reorganize the governance structure connecting the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation and NongHyup Financial. However, evaluations in the financial sector indicate that it failed to block the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation’s influence over appointments.
According to financial sector sources on the 2nd, Lee Chan-woo, the former Deputy Minister of the Financial Supervisory Service and a candidate for chairman of NongHyup Financial, is a bureaucrat from the 31st Administrative Examination class. He graduated from Busan National University and the Department of Political Science at Seoul National University, and has held positions such as Head of Economic Policy at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Deputy Minister, Chairman of the Economic Innovation Promotion Committee at Gyeongnam Provincial Office, and Deputy Minister of the Financial Supervisory Service.
The chairman of NongHyup Financial is mainly selected from bureaucrats that align with the government code. Kim Yong-beom, the former first deputy minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, was in competition with this candidate until the end; he belongs to the 30th Administrative Examination class. Considering the unique nature of NongHyup, which is monitored by the government and the National Assembly, it is interpreted that a bureaucrat capable of communicating with the government was chosen again.
Aside from this candidate, many analyses suggest that 'code appointments' strongly reflect Chairman Kang's influence. In this year-end appointment, among the nine affiliates of NongHyup Financial, the CEOs of NongHyup Bank, NongHyup Life, NongHyup Property & Casualty Insurance, NH-Amundi Asset Management, NongHyup Capital, and NH Savings Bank were changed. In the cases of NongHyup Property & Casualty Insurance and NH Savings Bank, reports indicate that the existing representatives, who still had terms remaining, stepped down under pressure to resign from the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation.
Kang Tae-young, the designated head of NongHyup Bank, originally from Jinju, Gyeongnam, is known to be an associate of Chairman Kang. Park Byeong-hee, the designated representative of NongHyup Life, and Song Chun-soo, the designated representative of NongHyup Property & Casualty Insurance, are originally from Cheongdo, Gyeongbuk, and Hapcheon, respectively. All three designated representatives of key affiliates share a common origin with Chairman Kang, who is from Hapcheon, Gyeongnam.
Reappointments of retirees have also continued under the Kang Ho-dong regime. Both designated candidates Song Chun-soo and Kim Jang-seop of NH Savings Bank returned to their positions two years after leaving. The two candidates had left NongHyup after serving as vice presidents of NongHyup Property & Casualty Insurance and NongHyup Life, respectively, in 2023.
Looking back at the appointments of representatives of NongHyup Financial affiliates, it is unusual for retired individuals to return as CEOs of affiliates. All 49 high-ranking personnel appointments in the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation that took place after Chairman Kang's inauguration involve retirees related to his election camp. Among them, there are individuals who have returned after resigning in 2016, eight years ago.
The atmosphere around the revision of the governance structure of NongHyup Financial by financial authorities seems to be winding down without significant progress. After a conflict between Chairman Kang and Lee Seok-jun, chairman of NongHyup Financial, became apparent over the appointment of a new president for NH Investment & Securities last March, financial authorities began formulating improvement plans for NongHyup Financial's governance structure. Chairman Kang had recommended a personnel appointment at the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation for the President of NH Investment & Securities, but the chairman refused, leading to appointment disputes. The Financial Supervisory Service conducted regular inspections of NongHyup Financial and NongHyup Bank last May, stating that the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation would improve its governance structure, which had been involved in affiliate personnel matters.
The Financial Supervisory Service released the results of its inspection last October and pointed out that the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation was ‘improperly involved in appointments’ within NongHyup Financial affiliates through unofficial channels. However, it only demanded management improvements concerning the appointment process and did not impose any sanctions. Despite the Financial Supervisory Service's demand for improvement, a substantial code appointment reflecting the Kang Ho-dong influence was conducted in this NongHyup Financial personnel change.
A financial authority official noted, 'It is not that there will be no sanctions regarding the results of the regular inspection of NongHyup Financial,' and added, 'Sanction procedures will follow based on the inspection results.'