Son Byunghwan to Undergo Replacement Process as Chairman of NongHyup Financial Group

Byunghwan Son, Chairman of NH Nonghyup Financial Group

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunju Lee] It is widely reported that the replacement of Sohn Byung-hwan, Chairman of NH Nonghyup Financial Group, whose term expires at the end of this year, is highly likely.

According to the financial sector on the 6th, while Nonghyup Financial is operating the Executive Candidate Recommendation Committee, the possibility of replacing Sohn Byung-hwan, Chairman of NH Nonghyup Financial Group, is being actively discussed. Nonghyup Central Association, which holds 100% of the shares of Nonghyup Financial, is reportedly planning to recruit a former bureaucrat as the next chairman. Among the candidates being reviewed by the recommendation committee, Lee Seok-jun, former Director of the Office for Government Policy Coordination who was active in President Yoon Seok-yeol’s presidential campaign, is being strongly mentioned.

Initially, the industry widely expected a considerable chance of Sohn Byung-hwan’s reappointment. This was influenced by the positive evaluation of Nonghyup Financial’s performance under Sohn’s leadership over the past two years. Nonghyup Financial achieved record-high earnings consecutively last year (2.2919 trillion KRW) and in the first half of this year (1.3505 trillion KRW).

However, the situation reportedly changed as Nonghyup Central Association, which owns 100% of Nonghyup Financial’s shares, recently strengthened efforts to recruit former bureaucrats. The financial sector views that, given Nonghyup Financial Group’s characteristics of being heavily influenced by political circles and the Central Association, the recruitment aligns with the current administration’s preferences.

Lee Seok-jun, who is mentioned as the next chairman of Nonghyup Financial, is a former economic bureaucrat from the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and was the first recruit to President Yoon Seok-yeol’s presidential campaign last year. Lee passed the 26th Public Administration Examination in 1983 and began his public service career at the Ministry of Finance. He served as a standing member of the Financial Services Commission, 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, and was appointed Director of the Office for Government Policy Coordination in 2016.

A Nonghyup Financial official stated, “There are talks about the possibility of external recruitment for the chairman, but Chairman Sohn has never expressed an intention to voluntarily give up reappointment.”

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