'Blue Tie Symbolizing IBK' Yoon Jong-won... Another Missed Commute to Headquarters (Comprehensive)

Yoon Jong-won, President of IBK Industrial Bank, was blocked by union members' protest against going to work while on his way to the IBK Industrial Bank headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 7th. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] Yoon Jong-won, president of IBK Industrial Bank of Korea, was once again blocked from entering the bank’s headquarters. This marks his second failed attempt since his first day of work on the 3rd. President Yoon is continuing his duties by receiving work reports and conducting external activities from a ‘temporary office’ set up at the Financial Training Institute.

At around 8:39 a.m. on the 7th, Yoon arrived at the IBK headquarters in Euljiro, Jung-gu, Seoul, in an official vehicle but was prevented from entering the building by the bank’s labor union blocking the entrance. About four minutes later, at 8:43 a.m., he left the headquarters by car. It is reported that he went to the temporary office prepared at the Financial Training Institute in Jongno-gu, Seoul.

On this day, as on his first day, President Yoon appeared wearing a blue tie, the symbolic color of IBK. This seemed to express his identity as an ‘IBK man’ through his attire. He stood with a blank expression without saying a word to the union members who blocked his way.

Yoon Jong-won, President of IBK Industrial Bank, was blocked by union members' protest against going to work while commuting to the IBK Industrial Bank headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 7th. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

The union refused all dialogue and blocked President Yoon’s entry. An executive who came with Yoon asked for the union chairman, but the union rejected even this request.

The union had been staging a sit-in at the headquarters lobby since around 7:40 a.m. and from 8:15 a.m., dozens of members waited at the back gate, confronting President Yoon. The main entrance was barricaded. The union members shouted slogans such as “Blue House, wake up for ignoring IBK” and “Parachute appointments, go away.” They refused to accept President Yoon, whom they called a parachute appointee from the Blue House bureaucracy, referring to him as former economic secretary Yoon.

Yoon Jong-won, President of IBK Industrial Bank, is turning away from union members' protest blocking his entry at the IBK Industrial Bank headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 7th. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

When reporters asked how he would respond if the obstruction continued, President Yoon replied, “We need to resolve this with an open mind.” He did not comment on the labor director system, which the union is reportedly demanding.

President Yoon is expected to continue attempting to enter the headquarters unless he has no morning schedule. If he fails to enter the headquarters, he will continue his work from the temporary office at the Financial Training Institute for the time being. On his first day on the 3rd, he attended the New Year meeting of the financial sector, and on the morning of the 6th, he visited the grave of the late former IBK president Kang Kwon-seok. Later that day at 3 p.m., he also attended the New Year meeting of small and medium-sized business owners in Yeouido, Seoul, fulfilling external schedules.

President Yoon entered public service by passing the 27th Administrative Examination and has served as Director of the Economic Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, Economic and Financial Secretary at the Blue House, Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and Chief Secretary for Economic Affairs at the Blue House. He is an economic bureaucrat by background.

The union has opposed an external bureaucrat president who has never worked in banking, arguing that he does not understand the field. The president of the policy bank IBK is nominated by the Financial Services Commission chairman and appointed by the president. Since 2010, the bank has had three consecutive presidents promoted internally.

An IBK official said, “We hope to resolve this quickly through sincere dialogue internally and return to normal operations. There are many pending tasks such as personnel matters.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.