1 Year in Office Eun Seong-su: "Heavy Responsibility in COVID Response... Must Not Spare Firefighting Water"

"Continued Efforts for Tangible Support to Small Business Owners in COVID Response"
"Deep Regret over Investor Losses in Private Equity Funds and DLF"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyo-jin] Eun Seong-su, Chairman of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), who will mark his first year in office on the 9th, shared his thoughts on major issues he faced during his tenure, including the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and successive private equity fund incidents. This was in a statement titled "Reflections on One Year Since Taking Office as Financial Services Commission Chairman," distributed through the FSC on the 8th.

Eun Sung-soo, Chairman of the Financial Services Commission / Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

Chairman Eun referred to his experience during the 1997 foreign exchange crisis when he was the Chief Secretary of the Financial Policy Office at the former Ministry of Finance and Economy, recalling, "Facing the COVID-19 crisis, a heavy sense of responsibility outweighed fear." He added, "We will continue efforts to stabilize the financial market and provide tangible support to small business owners and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through financial support programs amounting to '175 trillion won plus alpha (α).'"

He likened the COVID-19 financial support to "rapid fire suppression." Just as firefighters prioritize rescuing lives and extinguishing fires without sparing water when a fire breaks out, the FSC is proactively and boldly implementing financial support measures in response to the COVID-19 crisis.

Chairman Eun stated, "Since the crisis is not over, we will continue efforts to share the increased difficulties faced by small business owners and SMEs, while also strengthening meticulous management to ensure the soundness of the financial sector is not compromised."

"Guiding Market Liquidity to Productive Sectors"
"Strict Response to Private Equity Fund and Other Financial Incidents"

He said, "We will ensure a soft landing so that the inevitable increase in household and corporate debt during the crisis does not become an obstacle to the future leap of our economy," adding, "We will promote the guidance of market liquidity to productive sectors and block side effects caused by broad asset price increases under a long-term perspective."

Chairman Eun also mentioned, "Even amid crisis response, we have strived to pursue policies for financial innovation and consumer protection," citing achievements such as ▲allowing new facilitators to enter the financial market ▲establishing a foundation for fostering the data industry ▲supporting financial sector innovation efforts like regulatory sandboxes ▲and enacting the Financial Consumer Protection Act.

He continued, "I deeply regret the investors who suffered damages from private equity funds and derivative-linked funds (DLF) during my tenure," promising, "We will strictly respond to various financial incidents arising from changes in the financial environment, including private equity funds, DLFs, and voice phishing."

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