Song Jong-wook, President of Gwangju Bank, Finalizes Reappointment

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Bank (President Song Jong-wook) announced on the 8th that it has decided to reappoint President Song Jong-wook, whose term expires in March.

The JB Financial Group subsidiary CEO Candidate Recommendation Committee unanimously recommended the current president Song Jong-wook as the next candidate for Gwangju Bank president on the 6th, and on the 8th, the Gwangju Bank Executive Candidate Recommendation Committee finalized the reappointment after review.

President Song Jong-wook is scheduled to be officially appointed through the shareholders' meeting scheduled for March, with a term of two years.

Appointed as the 13th president of Gwangju Bank in September 2017, the first from the bank itself, President Song promoted customer-centered on-site management during a short period of one and a half years, quickly stabilizing the organization and extending his term once in March 2019.

Since then, based on outstanding management skills and proven leadership, he achieved record-high net profits every year and top-level financial indicators in the banking sector, while faithfully fulfilling the role of a regional economic partner through coexistence and collaboration amid the ‘COVID-19’ crisis, capturing both profit and value.

Following a record net profit (separate basis) of 173.3 billion KRW in 2019, in 2020, he achieved a net profit of 137.7 billion KRW by the third quarter, maintaining the highest levels of ROA (Return on Assets) and ROE (Return on Equity) among all banks, and recorded the highest levels of stability and soundness among regional banks in fixed non-performing loan ratio and delinquency ratio, achieving remarkable management performance despite the impact of ‘COVID-19’ and the era of three lows (low interest rates, low growth, low inflation).

Last year, he succeeded in reappointment amid strong trust and favorable reviews from both local residents and employees by winning ▲1st place for three consecutive years in the Korean Industry Brand Power regional bank category ▲contributing to the activation of local currency such as the Win-Win Card ▲full support for local small business owners during ‘COVID-19’ ▲expanding regional market share through securing local government deposits.

In particular, President Song Jong-wook has focused on community-based management based on the management philosophy of ‘pursuing value beyond profit’ through regional coexistence and development, investing 26 billion KRW in the Gwangju-type job project as the third largest shareholder, and leading financial support and social contribution activities for regional development and residents.

As a result, Gwangju Bank has imprinted its title as the representative bank of Gwangju and Jeonnam in various fields by securing local government deposits from Gwangju Metropolitan City and Jeonnam Province, as well as newly acquiring deposits from Gwangsan-gu, Mokpo City, and Suncheon City.

Especially, in the past year, which was difficult due to the impact of ‘COVID-19,’ Gwangju Bank delivered 30,000 masks each to Gwangju Metropolitan City and Jeollanam-do, emergency relief funds of 400 million KRW and 300 million KRW respectively, and 10 million KRW each to Mokpo, Suncheon, Yeosu, and Naju for emergency relief.

It also took the lead in financial support related to ‘COVID-19.’

By contributing 1 billion KRW each to Gwangju Credit Guarantee Foundation and Jeonnam Credit Guarantee Foundation, and 500 million KRW to the Korea Technology Finance Corporation, it practiced win-win management with local small business owners, and also implemented special funds support by Gwangju Bank itself, providing a total of 400 billion KRW in special support with a limit of 500 million KRW per company for local SMEs and individual business operators engaged in travel, accommodation, and food service industries.

As a result, as of the end of December 2020, the financial support provided by Gwangju Bank to self-employed and small business owners affected by ‘COVID-19’ reached 18,339 cases and 866.8 billion KRW.

In addition to this community-based management, it is also showing prominence in digital finance and overseas expansion business.

Starting with the opening of the next-generation IT system in 2018, it has been promoting digital transformation throughout the bank by introducing BPR, PPR, RPA, mobile web banking, robo-advisors, etc., and in April last year, it acquired JB Securities Vietnam (JBSV), a Vietnamese securities company, becoming the first domestic bank to do so and establishing a foothold for overseas expansion.

President Song Jong-wook said, “I am grateful to the local residents and customers who entrusted me with this important responsibility, and I will devote my passion to growth as a 100-year bank with even firmer confidence in future management plans.” He added, “Although a prolonged economic recession due to the ‘COVID-19’ pandemic and fierce competition from fintech and big tech companies entering the financial industry are expected, we will arm ourselves with change and innovation to achieve solid qualitative growth and leap forward as a leading bank with the highest profitability and soundness among regional banks.”

He continued, “We will do our best to fulfill the social responsibility of the representative bank of Gwangju and Jeonnam by coexisting with the region through financial support for local SMEs and middle-income groups and social contribution activities for the socially marginalized.”

Meanwhile, President Song Jong-wook was born in 1962, graduated from Suncheon High School, Chonnam National University, and Chonnam National University Graduate School, joined Gwangju Bank in 1991, and served as branch manager of Kumho-dong and Seoul branches, metropolitan area sales deputy president, and deputy president in charge of sales strategy.

Recognized for his outstanding sales performance and management ability, he was appointed as the 13th president of Gwangju Bank in September 2017, the first from the bank itself.

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