KB Financial Group Chairman Final Candidate Group Confirmed... Yoon Jong-kyu, Heo In, Lee Dong-chul, Kim Byung-ho (Comprehensive)

Yoon Jong-kyu, Chairman of KB Financial Group

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] Four candidates are competing for the next KB Financial Group chairman position: KB Financial Chairman Yoon Jong-kyu, KB Kookmin Bank President Heo In, KB Kookmin Card CEO Lee Dong-cheol, and former Hana Financial Group Vice Chairman Kim Byung-ho.

The KB Financial Group Chairman Candidate Recommendation Committee (hereafter, the Committee) held a meeting on the morning of the 28th at Kookmin Bank's Yeouido headquarters and finalized a total of four candidates as the chairman's final candidate pool (shortlist). The shortlist includes Chairman Yoon, KB Kookmin Bank President Heo In, KB Kookmin Card CEO Lee Dong-cheol, and former Hana Financial Group Vice Chairman Kim Byung-ho.

Chairman Yoon has held the KB Financial chairman position since November 2014. This is his third-term reappointment challenge. President Heo has served as KB Kookmin Bank president since November 2017 and holds a non-executive director role within KB Financial. Also, CEO Lee, who made the final candidate list alongside them, served as KB Financial Group’s Executive Vice President of Strategy from 2017 and has been the CEO of KB Kookmin Card since January 2018. Since January last year, he has also concurrently served as the head of the personal customer division within KB Financial.

Among the five external candidates on the longlist, the only person included in the shortlist is former Vice Chairman Kim. He served as Hana Bank president from February to August 2015 and was Vice Chairman of Hana Financial Group from September 2015 to March 2018.

Heo In, President of KB Kookmin Bank

The Committee stated that during the meeting, they conducted in-depth consideration and voting on the 10 internal and external longlist candidates, referencing performance and competency evaluation materials to assess qualifications, capabilities, and suitability for the chairman position. All four shortlisted candidates have accepted interviews with the Committee for final candidate selection.

A KB Financial Group board official said, "The internal candidates selected as the final chairman candidates have all accumulated extensive business experience within the group and have been systematically nurtured through the management succession program. The external candidate also possesses CEO-level or higher experience as a head of a leading domestic financial institution."

Lee Dong-cheol, President of KB Kookmin Card

Will KB Financial Chairman Yoon Jong-kyu Succeed in His Third Term?

Attention is focused on whether Chairman Yoon, who made the shortlist, can succeed in his third term. Under Yoon’s leadership, KB Financial has solidified its position as the leading financial holding company in the industry and has grown in size and strengthened its fundamentals through significant corporate mergers and acquisitions (M&A).

Despite the ultra-low interest rate environment caused by the spread of COVID-19, KB Financial’s net profit for the second quarter of this year was 981.8 billion KRW, a 35% increase compared to the same period last year. This significantly exceeded market experts’ forecast of around 880 billion KRW. It surpassed the previous number one, Shinhan Financial Group (873.1 billion KRW), establishing itself as the top financial holding company in the industry.

Byeongho Kim, former Vice Chairman of Hana Financial Group

Recently, KB Financial successfully acquired Indonesia’s mid-sized Bank Bukopin and confirmed the incorporation of Prudential Life Insurance, considered a 'cash cow' in the life insurance industry, as its 13th subsidiary.

The Committee plans to conduct in-depth interviews with the four shortlisted candidates on September 16. A candidate who receives two-thirds or more of the votes from the Committee members will be confirmed as the final chairman candidate.

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