Rhee Chang-yong, governor of the Bank of Korea, said on the 10th, "I have no doubt that Shin Hyun-song, the nominee for the next governor, has patriotism greater than his asset."
At a press briefing held right after the Monetary Policy Board meeting on the direction of currency policy that day, the governor answered this way to a question asking, "What do you think of the criticism that nominee Shin has a high proportion of foreign-currency asset?"
The governor said, "It may run counter to public sentiment, but I think it is too much to worry simply because there are foreign-currency assets when we bring in talent from overseas."
As an elementary school student, the nominee left for the United Kingdom to study with his father and lived back and forth between Korea and the U.K. After completing military service in 1982, he lived abroad for more than 40 years, building a reputation as a world-class economist, including at the University of Oxford, and serving as head of research and head of the monetary economics department at the BIS.
Earlier, in the request for a confirmation hearing submitted to the National Assembly, the nominee reported a total of 8.24102 billion won in assets under his, his spouse's, and his eldest son's names. Of that, 4.57472 billion won (55.5%)—more than half—was said to be overseas financial assets and real estate, sparking controversy.
Rhee Chang-yong's term ends on the 20th. Shin Hyun-song, the nominee, will take office as the new governor on the 21st after a confirmation hearing.