Bank of Korea to Hire IT Experts for CBDC and More

Bank of Korea to Recruit PhD-Level Researchers and IT Experts
Hiring Experienced PhDs in BOK Act, Employment (Labor), and Data Science

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Eunbyeol] The Bank of Korea has begun recruiting experts in central banking law, employment (labor), data science, and IT payment systems. In response to calls for the Bank of Korea to adapt alongside recent changes in the economic and financial landscape, it is recruiting experienced professionals not only in the macroeconomic and financial fields it has traditionally focused on but also in other specialized areas.

According to the Bank of Korea on the 12th, it announced a recruitment notice for experienced staff on the 4th and is currently hiring 10 research personnel. This includes seven doctoral-level researchers and three IT experts in electronic payment systems. The Bank of Korea conducts experienced hires annually when vacancies arise or when expert research in specific fields is needed. The scale of recruitment this year is somewhat larger than last year.

For the first time in this experienced recruitment, the Bank of Korea is hiring professionals holding a Doctor of Law degree. Typically, the Bank has hired experienced lawyers to handle legal matters such as post-risk (disputes), but this time it is recruiting legal scholars from academia due to the recent amendments to the Bank of Korea Act.

Several amendments to the Bank of Korea Act have recently been proposed in the National Assembly, and with the rapidly changing policy environment, the Bank has determined that it needs to study and respond to related laws in detail. Proposed amendments include adding employment stability to the existing price stability mandate and specifying the authority over payment systems and supervision of payment system participants in the Bank’s establishment purpose.

The Bank is also hiring experts to research inflation, monetary policy transmission channels, and employment?issues that have come to the forefront during the COVID-19 pandemic. Notably, the recruitment of a labor economics PhD stands out. Typically, doctoral-level researchers at the Bank’s Economic Research Institute are concentrated in macroeconomics or monetary policy. Since the number of experts specializing in labor economics within microeconomics is significantly low, the Bank decided to hire personnel in this field. Currently, among 30 to 40 doctoral-level researchers at the Economic Research Institute, only about 2 to 3 specialize in labor economics. The rest are assigned to teams related to the Survey Department.

Data science and IT experts, which have recently become hot topics, are also being recruited this time. This year, the Bank of Korea has been analyzing economic statistics by processing and utilizing various types of data, such as producing a 'News Sentiment Index' that quantifies economic sentiment using big data analysis techniques in artificial intelligence (AI). Going forward, the Bank plans to analyze card consumption and barcode recognition using big data.

The three IT experts hired will be responsible for handling computer system failures related to payment systems and improving technologies and environments related to the electronic financial industry. This is seen as a response to the increasing electronic payment operations by fintech companies and others. The Bank’s initiation of a digital currency (CBDC) pilot experiment has also increased IT-related tasks, which is another reason for hiring related personnel. The Bank of Korea will begin the CBDC pilot experiment next month. Although it is still an experiment in a virtual environment, it is expected that once the CBDC completes testing and is issued in reality, it will partially replace existing cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

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