NH Nonghyup Central회장, Inaugurated Amid COVID-19 Turmoil... Facing a Crucial Test

A 45-Year NongHyup Veteran Experienced in Field and Central Association
Organizational Reorganization Through Personnel Changes... Leadership and Inclusiveness Must Be Demonstrated

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyun-jung] The "representative of 3 million farmers" is running the mask sales site wearing a field jumper. Although there are numerous pressing tasks this year, such as increasing the benefits and welfare of return-to-farming and return-to-village workers and the establishment of the public direct payment system, the immediate priority is to put out the urgent fire right in front of him. This is the story of Lee Seong-hee, the president of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (NACF), who faced a "test of capability" as soon as he took office amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Born in 1949, President Lee became a "NACF person" in 1971 as an employee of Nakseong Agricultural Cooperative in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. He gained ample field experience working in Seongnam, a typical rural area in the 1970s and 1980s, and after promotions to managing director and executive director, he served three terms as a cooperative head starting in 1998. Notably, around the 2000s, he experienced rural urbanization firsthand as urban development rapidly progressed around Bundang and Pangyo. From 2008 to 2015, he served as the chairman of the audit committee and as a director at NACF, deepening his understanding of NACF operations. The intersection of his 45 years of diverse experience in both local and central organizations is "NACF."

Choosing "field management" in Hongcheon County, Gangwon Province, instead of an official inauguration ceremony as his first step on the 4th of last month was in the same vein. Upon visiting Hongcheon, he participated in a rural labor support event with about 30 executives and employees, followed by a luncheon meeting with farmers. Although it was the early stage of COVID-19, he delivered quarantine masks and hand sanitizers to the site for prevention and declared, "I will find answers to the problems facing our rural areas on the ground."

After COVID-19 rapidly spread mainly in the Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions, President Lee has been setting aside all other tasks to visit the "site of the problem." The most severely affected are flower farms. Last month, he held an emergency countermeasure meeting and urged continuous promotion of consumption campaigns to support flower farms. On the 3rd, he also urgently purchased 1 billion KRW worth of flowers to support flower farms.

Especially since the NACF Hanaro Mart was designated as an official sales outlet for public mask supplies, NACF has been engaged in a daily fierce battle to secure supplies since the end of last month. The responsibility of managing the site, including distributing the masks secured the previous day to Hanaro Marts nationwide the next day, falls on the related staff. They manage visitors lining up early in the morning and provide sales schedule information. Complaints about the mask shortage also erupt toward them. President Lee consoles the field staff and strives to help end the situation as soon as possible. Since being designated as an official sales outlet, NACF has supplied a total of 4.2 million masks to the market over six days from February 27 to March 3. On the 4th, NACF Hanaro Distribution will sell 1 million masks nationwide through Hanaro Marts.

The transition to the "Lee Seong-hee system," which will proceed amid the unforeseen COVID-19 adversity, remains a task. Recently, about a month after taking office, he began a large-scale personnel reshuffle, signaling the start of a full-scale overhaul. On the 2nd, seven executives including Heo Sik, former executive director of NACF, So Seong-mo, CEO of mutual finance, Park Gyu-hee, chairman of the cooperative audit committee, Kim Won-seok, CEO of agricultural economy at NACF Economic Holdings, Lee Dae-hoon, president of NH Nonghyup Bank, Lee Sang-wook, president of Nongmin Newspaper, and Kim Wi-sang, president of NACF University, submitted their resignations, all of which were accepted.

The outgoing executives publicly stated their resignations were for "voluntary retirement" to promote sustainable growth and innovation in economic business, but the prevailing view is that this is a transition to the Lee Seong-hee NACF president system. Typically, when a new NACF president is appointed, personnel changes are made to realign the organization.

For NACF, new executives are appointed through recommendations by the Personnel Recommendation Committee, board resolutions, and delegate elections, while NACF Economic Holdings appoints executives through recommendations by the Executive Recommendation Committee and shareholder meetings. Until successors are appointed, according to the articles of association, Director Son Gyu-sam of NACF acts as executive director and mutual finance CEO, Cooperative Audit Committee member Im Sang-jong acts as chairman of the cooperative audit committee, and Kim Tae-hwan, CEO of livestock economy at NACF Economic Holdings, acts as CEO of agricultural economy.

However, there are criticisms that even personnel matters of NACF Financial affiliates, which should be operated independently, are unsettled due to the change of NACF president. In particular, Lee Dae-hoon, president of NH Nonghyup Bank, is the first in the bank's history to serve three consecutive terms. Although his resignation is interpreted as respecting President Lee's personnel authority, some question whether the bank president, who has a high understanding of the organization and succeeded in a third term just two months ago, needed to step down. Although NACF holds 100% of NACF Financial's shares, there are strong voices that financial operations require professionalism and transparency in personnel matters. Demonstrating leadership and inclusiveness sufficient to quell such concerns is also President Lee's responsibility.

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