First Meeting Between Moon and Yoon... Bank of Korea Begins Full-Scale Preparation for Confirmation Hearings (Comprehensive)

Governor Lee Ju-yeol's Term Ends in D-4, Increasing Uncertainty...

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jung] Attention is focused on whether the appointment process for the next governor of the Bank of Korea (BOK) will accelerate ahead of the first meeting between President Moon Jae-in and President-elect Yoon Seok-youl at the Blue House on the 28th. With the term of BOK Governor Lee Ju-yeol expiring on the 31st of this month, leaving only four days remaining, concerns are growing that if the appointment process is further delayed, the April Monetary Policy Committee meeting, which determines the country's benchmark interest rate, may be held without a governor in place.

According to the Blue House and the Presidential Transition Committee, President Moon and President-elect Yoon will hold their first meeting at 6 p.m. at the Blue House on the same day. This meeting, the first since the presidential election 19 days ago, will take place in the form of a dinner at Sangchunjae within the Blue House, with Presidential Chief of Staff Yoo Young-min and President-elect Chief of Staff Jang Je-won attending.

Both sides stated that this meeting will be an open and candid dialogue without a fixed agenda. However, given the pressing issues such as COVID-19 and the Ukraine crisis, it is widely expected that various topics related to personnel authority, including the 50 trillion won supplementary budget (추경) that President-elect Yoon has pledged to pursue and the execution of contingency funds for relocating the presidential office, will be discussed at the table.

The BOK is placing its hopes on the dinner meeting between President Moon and President-elect Yoon and has begun full preparations for the confirmation hearing of candidate Lee Chang-yong. The candidate is scheduled to depart Washington, D.C., on the 29th and return on the 30th. To be appointed as the next governor, the candidate must undergo review by the Ministry of Personnel Management, deliberation by the Cabinet, and a confirmation hearing by the National Assembly.

Candidate Lee Chang-yong for Governor

The BOK announced that it has officially launched a 'Confirmation Hearing Preparation Task Force (TF)' on the same day, with Deputy Governor Bae Joon-seok taking overall command.

The BOK governor confirmation hearing was introduced following the 2012 amendment of the Bank of Korea Act, and this will be the third such hearing after the appointments of Governor Lee Ju-yeol in 2014 and 2018.

The confirmation hearing preparation TF consists of a policy team and a general affairs team. The policy team includes Hong Kyung-sik, Director of the Monetary Policy Department, and Deputy Director Park Jong-woo, while the general affairs team includes Chae Byung-deuk, Director of the Human Resources and Management Department, and Deputy Director Kim Tae-kyung.

A BOK official said, "The TF office for confirmation hearing preparation has been set up near the Samsung Main Building in the Booyoung Taepyeong Building. Candidate Lee plans to start coming to work daily from the 1st of next month to prepare for the confirmation hearing. After the government completes Cabinet deliberation and sends the confirmation hearing request to the National Assembly, the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee will decide the hearing date."

A financial sector official said, "With the U.S. Federal Reserve signaling a 'big step' by raising the benchmark interest rate by 0.50 percentage points at once and embarking on a full-scale tightening path, coupled with concerns over a Russian default following its invasion of Ukraine, financial instability is increasing. Domestic inflation is also continuing its high trajectory, creating a consensus that the appointment process should not be delayed any further," he added.

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