Internal candidates such as Executive Director Kim Hyeong-il and IBK Securities CEO Seo Jeong-hak are being mentioned as the next head of Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK). After internal candidates were appointed to lead Korea Development Bank and Export-Import Bank of Korea, expectations are that IBK will also continue the trend of promoting an insider.
According to financial authorities on the 16th, the term of Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) CEO Kim Seong-tae expires on Jan. 3 next year. Inside and outside IBK, Executive Director Kim and CEO Seo are being floated for the next chief. Some also see a possibility that Kim could serve another term.
The CEO of Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) is appointed by the president upon recommendation by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) chair. In effect, the president makes the appointment, but there have been no signs of concrete moves such as vetting candidates. If Kim steps down at the end of the term and a successor is not named, Executive Director Kim will serve as acting CEO.
As the time to appoint the next Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) chief approaches, one or two former bureaucrats are usually mentioned as candidates, but this year insiders are mostly being discussed. That is because the prevailing view is that the Lee Jae-myung administration, having repeatedly tapped insiders to lead state-run banks, will keep that approach in selecting the IBK chief. Among former bureaucrats, a former vice chair of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), identified as Mr. A, is being mentioned.
The Democratic Party of Korea formed a policy alliance with the Korean Financial Industry Union, the umbrella group of bank labor unions, during the last presidential election, and at the time the policy agreement included a ban on parachute appointments of chief executive officers (CEOs) at policy finance institutions.
The Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) labor union recently issued a statement saying, "Industrial Bank of Korea workers want a new bank chief with philosophy and capability. The top quality we demand in a chief is the will and ability to honor the agreement that the current president and the ruling party signed with the union."