Will Yum Myung-soon Become the Second Female CEO of Citi Bank?

Leading Candidate for Successor Bank President

Yoom Young-soon, Senior Executive Vice President, Citibank Korea

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] Could the second female bank president in South Korea be born? As Park Jin-hoe, president of Korea Citibank, has decided not to seek a third term, Yoo Myung-soon, senior executive vice president, is reportedly the leading candidate for the successor position.

According to financial circles on the 18th, Citibank will hold a board meeting this afternoon to appoint an acting bank president. Yoo, the senior executive vice president, is considered the likely acting president.

Born in 1964, Yoo is the second highest-ranking executive among Citibank’s 13 executives after President Park. Since joining Citibank in 1987, except for a brief stint at JP Morgan’s Seoul branch in 2014, she has been with Citibank continuously.

Her extensive experience in corporate banking (IB), a sector traditionally not entrusted to women in the conservative banking industry, is also an advantage. She currently serves as the head of the Corporate Banking Group.

Second Female Bank President?

If Yoo Myung-soon ascends to the president position, she will be the second female CEO among major banks following Kwon Sun-joo, former president of IBK Industrial Bank of Korea, and the first female CEO in a foreign bank in Korea.

Among Citibank’s 13 executives at the director level or higher, five are women, a significantly higher proportion compared to other banks. Citibank operates a Women’s Committee and Diversity Committee to run various programs promoting gender equality. Earlier this year, it became the first domestic company to extend paid paternity leave for male employees to four weeks when their spouse gives birth, doubling the legal standard of two weeks.

The other two executive vice presidents, who could be considered internal competitors, are foreign nationals. Given domestic sentiment, it is unlikely that a foreign executive will be appointed as CEO of a domestic bank. Shin Dong-geum, who was also a female executive vice president just below Yoo’s rank, left the company on June 30 for personal reasons. This means Yoo effectively has no internal competitors.

Possibility of External Candidate

There is also a possibility of a surprise appointment from outside. Citibank will hold a series of meetings including the board, executive nomination committee, and shareholders’ meeting from the end of this month or early next month to appoint the next president. A Citibank official said, “We have both internal and external candidates, and the president will be selected through the proper procedures among them.”

Meanwhile, Park’s decision not to seek a third term is considered unusual. Born in 1957, Park became Citibank’s second president in 2014 and was reappointed in 2017. Since the previous president Ha Young-gu served for 10 years, Park’s third term was expected. Park’s term ends on the 31st of this month, and he will serve as chairman of the board until October to lead the successor selection process.

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