Next Suhyup Bank President to Be Reconsidered on the 15th... Who Are the Leading Candidates?

From the left, Jin-kyun Kim, President of Suhyup Bank; Shin-sook Kang, Deputy CEO in charge of finance at Suhyup Central Association; and Ki Choi, Vice Chairman of KS Credit Information.

[Asia Economy Reporter Bu Aeri] The final selection of the next Sh Suhyup Bank president has been postponed to the 15th. Although it was widely expected that the final candidate would be decided on the 7th, it did not materialize.

According to the financial sector on the 8th, the Suhyup Bank President Recommendation Committee (PRC) conducted interviews the previous day with additional applicants Shin Hyun-jun, Director of the Korea Credit Information Services, and Kang Cheol-seung, former professor at Chung-Ang University. Previously, the PRC had interviewed five candidates including current president Kim Jin-gyun, Kang Shin-sook, Deputy Representative in charge of finance at Suhyup Central Association, former Senior Vice President Kwon Jae-cheol, former Vice President Kim Cheol-hwan, and Choi Gi, Vice Chairman of KS Credit Information, but decided to reopen the recruitment. However, this time, there will be no further reopening, and the final candidate will be selected from among the seven candidates.

It is analyzed that the final candidate selection for the Suhyup Bank president continues to be delayed due to unresolved differences between the government side and the Suhyup Central Association. The final candidate for Suhyup Bank president is decided by the approval of at least four out of five PRC members, which is two-thirds of the committee. The PRC consists of five members: two recommended by the Suhyup Central Association and three recommended respectively by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, and the Financial Services Commission.

During the 2020 president selection, the PRC also reopened recruitment due to differing opinions between the government and the Central Association members. It is known that at the meeting on the 14th of last month to decide interview candidates, there was a proposal to accept additional applicants because the only external candidate was Vice Chairman Choi.

Currently, Deputy Representative Kang Shin-sook and Vice Chairman Choi are considered the leading candidates for the next president. The Suhyup Central Association is reportedly backing Kang, who is an internal candidate, while the government side is supporting Vice Chairman Choi.

Kang, affiliated with the Central Association, joined Suhyup in 1979 and has held positions such as Head of Personal Customer Department, Head of Gangnam Regional Finance Headquarters, Vice President of Suhyup Bank, and Executive Director of the Central Association. She also holds the title of the first female executive in Suhyup’s history. Vice Chairman Choi previously served as Vice President of the Credit Group and Director of the Strategy Group at KB Kookmin Bank and was CEO of KB Kookmin Card.

A financial sector official said, "There is a rumor that Vice Chairman Choi is being supported by the government side because he is a graduate of Dong-A University in Busan and is close to government personnel in the Busan area." Another official added, "With recent incidents like the BNK Financial Group case, there is an internal atmosphere in the financial sector to be cautious about the government’s influence increasingly affecting the industry."

However, within the industry, there is also speculation that the PRC, which failed to reconcile differences in 2020 but compromised by selecting Kim Jin-gyun as the final candidate, might decide on Kim’s reappointment this time as well. Kim, who is seeking reappointment, was the first internally appointed president of Suhyup Bank in 2020, and his term expires on November 10.

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