[People人] The Challenge of 'New IBK Employee' Yoon Jong-won

Starting Anew as an 'IBK Man' After Serving as Ministry of Economy Ace and Blue House Economic Secretary
Founder of the 'Green Book,' Known as a Hard Worker
Bank Executive and Subsidiary CEO Appointments to Be Made Next Week, Innovation TF Launched
Organizational Efficiency and Reform Are Challenges for Outsider Yoon Jong-won... Must Overcome Internal Resistance and Level Up IBK

Yoon Jong-won, the new president of IBK Industrial Bank, is delivering his inaugural speech at the inauguration ceremony held on the 29th at the IBK headquarters in Euljiro, Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Haeyoung Kwon] On the 30th of last month, at the IBK Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) headquarters in Euljiro, Jung-gu, Seoul, Yoon Jong-won, President of IBK, presented appointment letters to 190 new employees. This appointment ceremony was different from usual. Both the employees receiving the appointment letters and the president presenting them were all newly hired 'fresh IBK employees.' For President Yoon, who held a belated inauguration ceremony due to union's work stoppage and was on his '28th day since appointment, 2nd day since inauguration,' participating in the appointment ceremony the day after the inauguration was a particularly meaningful experience. The newly hired 'rookie' president of IBK pledged a strong start together with the youngest employees. Coming from the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, having served as Director General of the Economic Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Economic and Financial Secretary at the Blue House, Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ambassador to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and Chief Presidential Secretary for Economic Affairs at the Blue House, this was a new starting point as an 'IBK man.'

For his first official schedule after inauguration, President Yoon chose the 'field.' He visited Guro, which fully embodies the past, present, and future of South Korea's economic growth. Guro Industrial Complex, which was the foundation of economic growth centered on the textile industry; Allt, an IBK client company with a smart factory; and IBK Changgong, IBK's startup nurturing platform, are located in Guro, representing the past, present, and future respectively. President Yoon took time to reflect on IBK's role, responsibility, and management direction as the financial lifeline for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and innovative startups while touring business sites that serve as engines of domestic economic growth.

Since his appointment in early January, President Yoon has emphasized two keywords to the executive team, which he also mentioned in his inaugural speech: 'innovative finance' and 'sound management.' He proposed innovative finance as a management keyword, focusing on supplying funds to SMEs based on their technological capabilities and future growth potential rather than guarantees or collateral loans. He repeatedly stresses the need to return to basics through sound management. This premise starts from the obvious fact that companies must fulfill social responsibilities and corporate ethics to maintain trust. Trust recovery has recently become the biggest issue in the banking sector, following controversies such as compensation for the foreign exchange derivative product 'KIKO,' which led many SMEs to bankruptcy during the 2008 global financial crisis, and the incomplete sales scandal of overseas interest rate-linked derivative-linked funds (DLF) that caused massive losses to investors last year. Although IBK has stayed clear of these controversies, President Yoon believes that since trust is difficult to restore once broken, sound management must be the foundation of IBK's management.

The appointment process of President Yoon, who broke the tradition of appointing three consecutive internal IBK presidents, was not smooth. He had to endure being turned away by employees due to the union's work stoppage protests, and repeated attempts at dialogue were rejected multiple times. Although this was due to opposition to an external president, it is hard to find anyone questioning his capabilities. President Yoon is regarded as an ace among economic bureaucrats, well-versed in macroeconomics and policy. He was the first to create the 'Green Book,' an economic trend analysis report published monthly by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. His achievements during his time as Director General of the Comprehensive Policy Division at the Ministry of Finance and Economy (now Ministry of Economy and Finance) in 2005 are credited with laying the foundation for economic analysis at the ministry. He is also recognized as a skilled candidate who was considered for the posts of Financial Services Commission Chairman and Financial Supervisory Service Governor.

He is also known as a 'workaholic.' It is said that when working under President Yoon, an enormous amount of work is involved, and even when he was briefly considered for the Financial Services Commission Chairman, there was tension within the financial authorities.

President Yoon, as an external IBK president, faces many challenges. The first task is the personnel appointments of IBK executives and CEOs of affiliates, expected as early as next week. President Yoon emphasized, "We will establish transparent and fair personnel standards and create a system where each employee is evaluated based on performance and capability. Requests through favoritism, school ties, or regional connections will be strictly dealt with according to laws and internal regulations and will inevitably result in disadvantages." After securing fairness and transparency in personnel appointments, which he has promised several times, the bank and its subsidiaries, as sales organizations, must also kick off their management for the first half of the year in earnest.

Organizational reform and innovation, which only an external president can achieve, are another challenge. As a policy bank, IBK is not free from external influence. There are criticisms both inside and outside that some employees are more adept at 'politics,' connecting with political circles or government offices rather than focusing on 'competence.' Compared to competing commercial banks, IBK is evaluated as less efficient and lacking organizational tension. President Yoon's consideration of reducing the number of executives in subsidiaries during executive briefings was for these reasons. It is President Yoon's role to boldly intervene where necessary. Internal resistance is a mountain to overcome.

President Yoon already included pointed remarks throughout his inaugural speech, mentioning 'change' eight times. 'Breaking pure-bloodism, open attitude, discussion of diverse opinions, utilization of external expertise, change and vitality.' President Yoon plans to soon launch an innovation task force (TF) at IBK to promote innovative finance externally and management innovation internally. The voyage of the Yoon Jong-won-led IBK has just begun.

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