Chairman Kim Kwang-soo, Who Has Emphasized 'Digital,' Holds First Board Meeting Remotely Since Inauguration

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] The first board meeting held after Kim Kwang-soo's inauguration as Chairman of the Korea Federation of Banks will be conducted online in response to the COVID-19 situation.

According to the financial sector on the 28th, the Korea Federation of Banks will hold its regular board meeting at 5 p.m. via a non-face-to-face video conference attended by major bank presidents. This reflects the social distancing measures due to the spread of COVID-19, and it is the first time the Federation has conducted its regular board meeting through an online video conference. It is also the first board meeting since Kim Kwang-soo took office as the 14th Chairman of the Federation on the 1st of this month.

The Korea Federation of Banks installed a video conferencing system in the chairman's office located in the Bankers' Hall in Jung-gu, Seoul, to facilitate the non-face-to-face video meeting and guided the bank presidents attending the meeting on how to participate and use the system.

As this board meeting is the last one of the year, the 2021 Federation budget and business plans are expected to be the main agenda items. Additionally, future response measures of the banking sector to the COVID-19 situation and other banking industry issues are anticipated to be discussed.

Meanwhile, starting from this day, the number of waiting customers inside bank branches will be limited to 10 or fewer. The Korea Federation of Banks announced that it will implement 'strengthened social distancing measures at bank branches' from this day in accordance with the government's 'Year-end and New Year Special Quarantine Strengthening Measures.'

In the waiting area (lobby), the number of waiting customers will be limited to 10 or fewer as much as possible, and sufficient distance will be maintained by seating customers with one seat apart. For customers who cannot enter due to the limit on the number of people, 'customer waiting lines' will be marked at the branch entrances, and guidance will be provided to ensure a distance of at least 2 meters between customers.

In the work area (counters), the installation of partitions will be expanded to minimize the possibility of infection between customers and staff or among consulting customers. If installing partitions is difficult, a distance of 2 meters (at least 1.5 meters) will be maintained between consulting customers. If sufficient distance cannot be maintained due to space constraints in the branch, the option of closing some counters will also be actively considered.

Kim Kwang-soo, Chairman of the Korea Federation of Banks, said, "This is a time when active participation from all members of society is necessary to prevent the spread of COVID-19," and added, "Please use non-face-to-face channels such as the internet as much as possible, and although there may be inconveniences in using banks due to restrictions on the number of people in the lobby, we ask for your understanding as these are unavoidable measures."

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