Departing Financial Services Commission Chairman Go Seung-beom: "Fiercely Fought the War Against Debt"

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Hwajeong] "I feel that I fought a fierce war against debt in my last public office as the Chairman of the Financial Services Commission."

On the 5th, Chairman Ko Seung-beom expressed these thoughts in his farewell speech. Chairman Ko recalled, "When I was appointed as the Chairman of the Financial Services Commission in early August last year, household debt had surged beyond 1,800 trillion won, real estate prices showed no signs of slowing down, and the economic impact of the COVID-19 resurgence was difficult to gauge in such an urgent situation." He added, "From the moment I was appointed, I clearly understood that the most important duty of the Chairman was to promote financial stability by curbing the rapid increase in household debt."

He had many concerns at the time of his inauguration, fully aware that debt management is an unpopular policy that is hard to be praised by the general public. Chairman Ko explained, "However, I believed it was my duty to work hard to prevent a greater crisis that could occur in the future, even if it meant causing immediate inconvenience." He continued, "During my tenure as Chairman, I prioritized risk management as the top priority of financial policy and devoted myself to it." Thanks to these efforts, the household debt growth rate, which was 9.5% at the time of his inauguration, recently dropped to the 3% range.

He said, "We responded swiftly to the rapid increase in private debt," and added, "Since the second half of last year, I believe the Financial Services Commission has contributed proactively to preventing further bubble accumulation and reducing the side effects of bubble collapse."

Chairman Ko stated, "During my 37 years and 5 months in public service, I experienced many financial crises such as the 1997 foreign exchange crisis, the 2003 credit card crisis, and the 2011 savings bank crisis. Especially over the past two years, I wrestled with issues of increased liquidity and excessive debt while responding to the COVID-19 crisis." He concluded, "In my last public office as Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, I fought a fierce war against debt."

Finally, Chairman Ko emphasized, "Although the current economic and financial market situation has become very difficult, I firmly believe that the new chairman and all the staff of the Financial Services Commission will carry out their duties unwaveringly."

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