[Asia Exclusive] Kwon Junhak, NH Bank President, Skips Inauguration Ceremony to Visit Farms as a 'Field Communication Banker'

Identifying Gaps Through On-the-Ground Experience
Seeking Solutions in Digital Fields Like Big Data
Plans to Expand Partnerships with Big Tech and Fintech

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] Kwon Junhak, President of NH Nonghyup Bank, is known as a master of communication. This is because his management philosophy, which emphasizes ‘communication with customers and the field,’ is deeply ingrained in him. He even skipped the inauguration ceremony on New Year's Day, and his first external schedule as president was a field management visit to a youth smart farm. Starting with the first farm visit on January 5, he has been directly overseeing business sites several times a month, listening to the voices needed for financial support and putting them into action. His ‘field-oriented philosophy’ is already well recognized internally. During his tenure as head of Nonghyup Financial Gyeonggi Sales Headquarters, he conducted more than 200 visits to branch sites.

President Kwon’s field management has led to the growth of Nonghyup Bank. In the first quarter, Nonghyup Bank recorded a net profit of 409.7 billion KRW, an increase of 29.6% (93.5 billion KRW) compared to the same period last year. This growth rate stands out even when compared to KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, and Woori Banks.

He cites ‘competitiveness in the agricultural industry and public finance sectors’ as Nonghyup Bank’s strength, but he has personally experienced the lack of ‘metropolitan infrastructure’ in numerous field visits. Although the bank’s greatest strength as a ‘nationwide’ institution is providing financial support across the country to ensure no area is neglected, it has fewer branches in the metropolitan area compared to other banks. In fact, as of the end of last year, Nonghyup Bank’s non-metropolitan branch ratio reached 62.5%, overwhelmingly higher than other banks, which average 25-35%.

The solution he found to overcome this is ‘digital finance.’ President Kwon is recognized as an expert in digital and asset management fields, including big data, within the financial sector. He stated, "Nonghyup Bank will enhance platform competitiveness by adding a ‘customer perspective’ to digital finance," and added, "At the same time, through partnerships with big tech companies and others, we will provide financial services that go to the platforms where customers are, compensating for the limitations of metropolitan infrastructure."

His active participation in the MyData project, which will be implemented in August, is in line with this approach. President Kwon emphasized, "We plan to expand business partnerships and strengthen cooperation with big tech and fintech companies," and added, "Rather than reckless competition, we will focus on Nonghyup Bank’s unique strengths to develop products and services, and through collaboration with these companies, we will create a healthy digital ecosystem."

He judged that the most important factor for strengthening digital capabilities is ultimately securing excellent talent, and thus has widened the recruitment doors. Various systems are also being considered to attract digital talent. Previously, Nonghyup Bank selected digital and card sector internship employees linked to recruitment last year and hired them as full-time employees after a five-week evaluation.

He explained, "The selection of recruitment-linked internship employees was introduced to proactively secure excellent digital talent in response to Nonghyup Bank’s digital transformation (DT)," and added, "Interns were selected through separate competency verification for each recruitment field, and after a five-week evaluation in the assigned departments, those whose digital capabilities and organizational fit were verified were finally hired as full-time employees."

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