Son Byung-du, Former Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, Appointed as Chairman of Korea Exchange

Exchange ASIH Candidate Recommendation Committee Decides Sole Candidate... Final Appointment on the 18th
Union Opposition to Former Economic Official... "Against Gwanpia"

Son Byung-du, Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, is presiding over a meeting of the Financial Risk Response Team of the Economic Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters at the Bankers' Hall in Jung-gu, Seoul, on August 11. The meeting reviewed the support performance for automobile parts suppliers and the financial support status for small and medium-sized enterprises. / Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] Son Byung-doo, former Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, has been virtually appointed as the chairman of the Korea Exchange, a position that had been vacant for about a month.

According to the financial investment industry on the 1st, the Korea Exchange Director Candidate Recommendation Committee decided on Son, the former vice chairman, as the sole candidate after conducting the final interview for the chairman candidate the day before. The Exchange plans to hold a shareholders' meeting on the 18th to officially appoint Son as the next chairman. Former chairman Jung Ji-won completed his three-year term and moved to become the president of the Korea Non-Life Insurance Association.

Son, the former vice chairman, graduated from Inchang High School and Seoul National University with a degree in International Economics. He earned a Ph.D. in Economics from Brown University in the United States. He entered public service through the 33rd Administrative Examination and held positions such as Director of the International Organizations Division, Foreign Currency Funds Division, International Finance Division at the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, Head of the G20 Planning and Coordination Team, Secretary-General of the Public Fund Management Committee at the Financial Services Commission, and Director of Financial Policy.

Thus, once again, an economic bureaucrat will take the helm of the Korea Exchange. Since the launch of the integrated Korea Exchange in 2005, the only chairman who was not a bureaucrat was the third chairman, Kim Bong-soo, who was the vice chairman of Kiwoom Securities. Initially, former Democratic Party lawmaker Min Byung-doo was also considered alongside Son as a candidate, raising a dynamic of economic bureaucrat versus political figure, but Min was excluded from the candidate pool after revealing on Facebook on the 20th of last month that he had applied for the presidency of the Korea Federation of Banks.

Meanwhile, the Korea Exchange branch of the National Office and Financial Services Labor Union (Exchange Union) opposes the appointment of Son, calling it a case of "Gwanpia" (bureaucrat + mafia). Since the 26th of last month, they have also started an indefinite tent protest. The Exchange Union stated, "Reemployment of retired Financial Services Commission officials in securities-related institutions must be completely banned," and argued, "We oppose parachute appointments of Gwanpia who led failed capital market policies."

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