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From the left in the photo: Lee Hyemin, CEO of Pinda; Jung Inyoung, CEO of December & Company Asset Management; Lee Seokwoo, CEO of Dunamu.

[Asia Economy Reporters Kiho Sung, Junhyung Lee] As the Korea Fintech Industry Association prepares to form a new leadership team in February, the outline of the 4th new president is gradually emerging. With the fintech industry growing rapidly and the president's status rising, the election fever is hotter than ever. When the current president, Youngjun Ryu (CEO of Kakao Pay), completes his term in April next year, the new president will lead the largest fintech alliance organization in Korea, which includes 344 fintech companies.

According to industry sources on the 30th, the Fintech Industry Association recently announced the registration for candidates for the 4th executive team and has begun forming the board of directors. Eligibility for candidate registration is limited to regular or special members of the association, and presidential candidates must be executives as of the registration date. Once the candidate confirmation announcement is made on the 19th of next month, the official election campaign period will begin. From the 20th to the 26th, the voter list will be finalized, and registration procedures for mobile voting will be conducted, with the final election held at the regular general meeting and executive election on February 17th.

The competition for the 4th president election is expected to be fiercer than ever. The leading presidential candidates currently emerging are Seokwoo Lee, CEO of Dunamu, and Inyoung Jung, CEO of December & Company Asset Management. It is also known that Hyemin Lee, CEO of Finda, has recently solidified her intention to run for the presidency.

The 1st president was Seunggun Lee, CEO of Viva Republica, the 2nd president was Daeyoon Kim, CEO of PeopleFund, and the 3rd was Youngjun Ryu, CEO of Kakao Pay. In the early days of the association, the 1st and 2nd presidents were elected as sole candidates, but the 3rd president election was contested by CEO Ryu and Seunghyun Shin, CEO of Daily Financial Group, with a vote held among all member companies. Considering the rapidly increased status of the association recently, it is expected that multiple candidates will run and the election will proceed this time as well.

The Fintech Industry Association is a private organization that promotes the fintech industry, facilitates external cooperation, proposes policies and conducts research, operates permanent fintech subcommittees, and supports fintech member companies.

Recently, with the rapid development of the fintech industry, the association's role as a communication channel regarding regulations has been strengthened. In particular, the government and political circles recognize the president of the Fintech Industry Association as a representative figure of the fintech industry and conduct discussions on major issues together. This is an advantage enjoyed by the company that produces the president.

Financial authorities also invite the president of the Fintech Industry Association to major policy discussions to listen to the industry's voice. The political sector frequently pursues official and unofficial meetings with the association president to gather opinions for legislative activities, indicating that the communication role of the association president is expected to become even more important.

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