The race to choose the next president to lead the nationwide Korean Federation of Community Credit Cooperatives (KFCC), which has 289 trillion won in assets, has begun. This election will be held by direct vote for the first time in KFCC history. The industry expects a two-way contest between President Kim In and Yu Jae-chun, chair of the Seoul Livestock KFCC.
The KFCC Central President election will be held on the 17th of next month at the MG Talent Development Institute in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, with votes cast by the chairs of 1,267 credit unions nationwide. Once official candidate registration is completed over two days starting on the 2nd of next month, the campaign will begin in earnest. As of the 26th, two people have completed preliminary candidate registration: Chair Yu and Chair Jang Jae-gon of the Jongno Gwangjang KFCC. President Kim is also expected to register as a candidate.
President Kim's biggest strength is the human network built over a long period through communication with chairs nationwide who hold voting rights. Kim served as vice president for six years starting in Mar. 2018. When former President Park Cha-hoon was indicted in 2023 on charges of receiving money and valuables, Kim took over as acting president, and in a by-election that December, was elected president with 539 votes, nearly half of the 1,194 cast.
Kim is facing criticism that meaningful reform is unlikely because Kim is seen as the closest aide to former President Park, who was sentenced to prison on charges of taking money and valuables. Recently, President Lee Jae-myung mentioned KFCC issues at a Cabinet meeting.
Chair Yu is calling for KFCC reform. On the 21st, Yu met with Democratic Party of Korea leader Jung Chung-rae and proposed deregulation and other measures for KFCC reform. Yu grew the Seoul Livestock credit union from 18 billion won in assets in 2007 to 872.4 billion won as of the end of June.
However, the key is how many chairs nationwide Yu can win over with less than a month left. Some say that even if Yu gains an edge in Seoul, it will be difficult to overtake President Kim without persuading chairs in other regions.
Chair Jang is seen as having a weak support base. The asset size of the Jongno Gwangjang credit union led by Jang was only 149.9 billion won as of the end of June. In the chair election held in March, Jang was elected without a vote, winning a third term as chair.
Kim Kyung-tae, chair of the Woori Yongin KFCC, and Choi Cheon-man, former chair of the Bupyeong KFCC, were also mentioned as potential candidates for the next president, but it is uncertain whether they will run. A mutual finance institutions official said, "With the election day not far off, there isn't enough time to meet chairs nationwide. It's a difficult environment for more new candidates to emerge."