New Commissioner Kim Jin-il (photo) of the the Bank of Korea's monetary policy committee said in an inaugural address on the 15th that "inflation concerns have heightened further due to high oil prices stemming from the Middle East war," and "I will do my best to help achieve the goals of currency policy."
Kim begins a four-year term this day, succeeding former Commissioner Shin Seong-hwan, who stepped down on the 12th. Kim worked as an economist at the U.S. Federal Reserve and served as a professor in the Department of Economics at Korea University starting in 2010.
New Commissioner Kim said, "The policy conditions facing the Bank of Korea are by no means simple." Kim then said, "As for the business cycle, it is improving mainly in the IT institutional sector, but uncertainty over global investment is high, and domestically, polarization and other issues are continuing."
Kim went on, "From a financial stability perspective, household debt and dwellings price issues remain, and caution has grown further over risks of capital inflows and outflows stemming from expanded global interconnectedness."
Kim said, "Amid such complex internal and external conditions, I am reminded anew of how difficult it is to achieve the Central Bank's original policy goal of 'contributing to the national economy by seeking price stability while paying heed to financial stability through currency credit policy.'"
Kim received bachelor's and master's degrees in economics from Seoul National University and a Ph.D. in economics from Yale University in the United States. Kim worked as an economist at the U.S. Federal Reserve from 1996 to 1998 and from 2003 to 2010. From 1998 to 2003, Kim was a professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Virginia in the United States.
There are seven Monetary Policy Board members, including the Bank of Korea (BOK) governor and deputy governor. Five are recommended respectively by the Bank of Korea (BOK), the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, the Financial Services Commission, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Korea Federation of Banks, and appointed by the president. Kim was recommended by the Korea Federation of Banks.