The Bank of Korea said on the 11th that the Korea Federation of Banks recommended Kim Jin-il, a Korea University economics professor, as the successor to Commissioner Shin Seong-hwan of the the Bank of Korea's monetary policy committee (Monetary Policy Board), who is stepping down as his term ends.
Born in 1967, Kim earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Seoul National University in 1989, a master's in economics from Seoul National University in 1991, and a Ph.D. in economics from Yale University in 1996. He went on to serve as an economist at the Federal Reserve Board, an adjunct professor at Georgetown University, an assistant professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Virginia, and a senior economist at the Federal Reserve. Since 2010, he has been a professor in the Department of Economics at Korea University.
The Monetary Policy Board, which decides currency and credit policy, including the base rate, has seven Commissioners. Governor Shin Hyun-song of the Bank of Korea and Deputy Governor Yoo Sang-dae of the Bank of Korea serve as ex officio Commissioners. The remaining five are each recommended by the Bank of Korea governor, the Minister of Strategy and Finance, the Financial Services Commission chair, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry president, and the Korea Federation of Banks chair, and are appointed by the president without a confirmation hearing.
If Kim is appointed as a Monetary Policy Board Commissioner, the term will be four years starting on the 13th. Under the Bank of Korea Act, a Monetary Policy Board Commissioner's term is deemed to begin immediately upon the expiration of the predecessor's term, regardless of the actual appointment date. Commissioner Shin's term ends on the 12th.