[1mm Financial Talk] Employee Backlash Settled... Yu Jae-hoon, KFDIC President, First Day at Work 11 Days After Appointment

Ending Personnel Noise Since Early Winter
Alone, Talks with About 150 Employees...Promise to Listen to Opinions

On the 14th, in front of the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, the KDIC labor union staged a protest to block the new president Yae Jae-hoon's commute.

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] Yoo Jae-hoon, the newly appointed president of the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC), who faced opposition including employees' protests to block his attendance at work, made his first appearance at the office 11 days after his appointment. He directly addressed past controversies and expressed his intention to continue communication while managing the organization, thereby putting an end to the disputes for the time being.

According to industry sources on the 22nd, Yoo arrived at the KDIC headquarters office in Jung-gu, Seoul, for the first time the previous day. This was his first attendance at work 11 days after Financial Services Commission Chairman Kim Joo-hyun recommended his appointment on the 10th, and President Yoon Suk-yeol officially approved it.

The KDIC labor union members, who had vehemently opposed Yoo since he was first mentioned as a candidate, had continued their protests to block his attendance at work until last week even after his appointment.

Previously, Yoo was embroiled in controversy over alleged 'retaliatory personnel actions' during his tenure as president of the Korea Securities Depository from 2013 to 2016, where he reportedly dismissed or demoted 37 employees at the director, manager, and team leader levels who were critical of his management. Two of these employees filed lawsuits against the Korea Securities Depository, and the Supreme Court ruled in their favor. The court found that the Depository violated labor laws and employment regulations and ordered compensation of 500 million KRW to the affected employees. Additionally, Yoo faced ongoing criticism for excessive overseas business trips and was repeatedly pointed out during National Assembly audits.

Because of this, the union began actively opposing Yoo around August when he was first considered for the presidency. They criticized the reuse of the executive recommendation committee formed in May to appoint non-standing directors, instead of forming a new committee for the president candidate recommendation. This issue was also raised during this year's National Assembly audit, but the Financial Services Commission proceeded with the appointment. Consequently, the KDIC union resorted to physical protests to block his attendance at work.

From the first day he was blocked from attending work, Yoo repeatedly requested the union to arrange opportunities for dialogue with employees. After a week-long protest, a 'hearing' was held on the 18th at the KDIC headquarters, attended by about 150 employees. Yoo attended alone without other executives and engaged in dialogue with the employees. Initially, the atmosphere was somewhat hesitant, but later, questions poured in to the extent that time was insufficient, according to reports.

During the session, Yoo also addressed the issue of retaliatory personnel actions during his time at the Korea Securities Depository. He explained, "If those actions had been illegal or unfair, I would have faced numerous lawsuits and would have naturally been disqualified during the public official candidate screening process. Although I gave the final approval for personnel decisions, I never gave prior instructions to the executive in charge nor did I ever modify the personnel decisions."

Subsequently, Yoo continued dialogue with the KDIC union through separate channels. It appears that both sides reached various agreements through these discussions. It was reported that Yoo agreed to some of the union's demands and also pledged to establish mechanisms to listen to and reflect the opinions of internal members regarding personnel matters. A KDIC union official said, "There was a considerable response that Yoo showed sincerity during the hearing," adding, "He also promised to continue listening to internal voices, so members seem to be cautiously willing to trust him for now."

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