[Power K-Women] 'Nuna Leadership' Kim Mi-young "The Virtue of a Leader is Clear Communication"

Kim Mi-young, Director of Financial Consumer Protection at FSC

Continuously Developing Communication Skills
Aiming to Be Recognized by Those Around
Worked for 40 Years Without Looking 'Up'
Wants a Society Without the Label 'First Female'

"The core of leadership is ultimately to clearly communicate the direction of work to the employees you work with and to share opinions about the goals you aim for."

Kim Mi-young, Director (Deputy Governor) of the Financial Consumer Protection Department at the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), who will mark her 40th year since joining the workforce next year, started her career at the Bank of Korea in 1985 and joined the FSS when it was established in 1999. Director Kim has experienced a wide range of significant roles at the FSS, including Head of the Bank Compliance Inspection Division, Head of the Anti-Money Laundering Office, and Director of the Credit Finance Inspection Bureau. Known as a ‘seasoned inspector,’ she earned the nickname "Kim Mi-young catching Kim Mi-young" while serving as the Head of the Illegal Finance Response Team in 2021. Last year, she gained further attention as the first female Deputy Governor from within the organization. The title ‘first female’ often precedes her name, including as the first female inspector and first female inspection team leader. Regarding this, Director Kim said, "I hope society will become an environment where more attention is paid to what kind of expertise and leadership one has rather than focusing on whether they are female or male."

- You are always followed by the title ‘first female.’ How do you feel about this label?

▲ Actually, what we hope for is a society without labels like ‘first female’ or ‘first internal candidate.’ There is a burden that if I make a mistake, it could affect my juniors. When I became a team leader and director, I tried to work harder because of that burden. However, as I moved up, I felt a bit disappointed. When a male employee is promoted, the focus is on career or expertise, but in my case, the fact that I was the ‘first female’ was highlighted. What kind of abilities I demonstrated or what expertise I had was not emphasized. Although the label ‘first’ serves as a motivation to work harder, this aspect is somewhat regrettable. Career should be the model, not gender. What matters in organizational life is individual ability. Regardless of gender, members who contribute to the development and value of the organization must be promoted to higher positions. When someone rises to a high position, attention should be paid to what expertise and leadership they possess.

- How have you demonstrated leadership while leading various organizations?

▲ Communication skills are important. I developed this skill starting from my time as an inspector. An important thing for inspectors is ‘Keep asking.’ It means persistently asking questions to find out what is unreasonable. Through this process, I developed a lot of communication skills. When meeting with executives of financial companies, the role of the inspection team leader is to convey the messages representing the supervisory authority. Within the organization, you must accurately communicate what we do and the results of the work to your superiors, and clearly present goals or values to employees. On the other hand, I became the ‘older sister who buys drinks well.’ We relieved stress accumulated during work hours by laughing, drinking, and chatting. Many female leaders have good communication skills. Trying to communicate a lot with employees was part of my leadership and seemed to be a strength.

Kim Mi-young, Director of the Financial Consumer Protection Department at the Financial Supervisory Service, is being interviewed by Asia Economy at the Financial Supervisory Service office in Yeouido. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

- What do you think about the glass ceiling at the FSS, where there is still only one female executive?

▲ The sample size was small. Basically, to get into the pool, you need to show performance or certain achievements in the organization, but 20 years ago, women bore a lot of the burden of housework and childcare. As a result, female employees had fewer opportunities to demonstrate performance and ability. Because the sample size was small, the probability of rising to higher positions was low. Now, the talent pool of female senior staff and team leaders has grown. Rather, the bigger concern for employees is the ‘glass wall’ between positions that still exists rather than the glass ceiling. For example, in the past, there was a ‘work partition’ that did not assign inspection roles to women, and it is important to eliminate such gender-based work partitions. Removing this glass wall is essential because it creates a stepping stone to achieve results in core tasks and rise up. In the past, there were no women in senior chief or senior team leader positions, but nowadays, many women hold these roles. When many female employees work hard and achieve results in such positions, the probability of naturally rising to senior positions increases. In the future, many capable juniors will rise within the FSS.

- When was a difficult moment for you?

▲ I once failed to be promoted to team leader, and I think that was a psychologically depressing time. In 2006, I went on a training program in the U.S., and since there was no performance evaluation during the training period, my promotion was delayed. At that time, I thought the training, which I did not want to attend, caused the delay in promotion. My juniors sincerely told me, "You are already our team leader," which was a great comfort. Looking back, this experience actually helped me. Later, when I was promoted to department head, the Anti-Money Laundering Office was newly established, and thanks to my experience inspecting money laundering cases in the U.S., I was appointed as head without going through deputy director. In the long run, being delayed in promotion once or twice is not a big problem.

- It has been a year since you took office as Director of the Financial Consumer Protection Department. There have been various issues over the past year; what was the most meaningful work?

▲ The most memorable was handling dispute mediation related to losses from the Hong Kong H-Share Index (Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, HSCEI) based ELS. There was also the private equity fund incident in the past, but the scale of damage and number of victims were larger this time, so there was much concern about how to handle it. During this process, employees came to the office on weekends without heating, wearing parkas, working hard and enduring. Financial companies also actively accepted measures to protect consumers, and the process proceeded more smoothly than initially feared, which I am grateful for.

- Although the Financial Consumer Protection Act was enacted, finance still seems a difficult area for consumers, and the playing field remains uneven, as seen in the ELS incident. How should this gap be overcome?

▲ According to the Financial Consumer Protection Act, financial consumers have the right to receive the knowledge and information necessary when selecting and consuming financial products. Also, financial consumers have the duty to strive to acquire the information and knowledge needed to become reasonable financial consumers. In other words, enhancing the capabilities of financial consumers is the most important pillar of financial consumer protection. Strengthening education so that financial consumers can fulfill their duty to acquire information and knowledge is the biggest issue. The nation must pay close attention. Appropriate education should be provided at the time consumers select and consume financial products. Since there are characteristics by life cycle, education should reflect these characteristics to be effective. It is important that consumers know their rights and duties and choose the right channels. Because repetitive learning is necessary, these things must be internalized.

- Next year marks your 40th year since joining the workforce. How have you managed to endure for so long?

▲ If I had aimed for a high position from the beginning, I don’t think I could have endured. If you aim for a high position from the start, you collapse thinking you cannot reach it due to failures along the way. My goal at every moment was to be recognized by the people around me and my seniors. Looking back, rather than thinking about reaching a high position, focusing on short-term goals I could achieve and producing results while working was better. When climbing a mountain, you don’t look at the summit because you get tired. If you just look at your feet and count left foot, right foot, you will eventually reach the top. Work life is like that. When I wanted to become a team leader but failed, I thought maybe next year, and then I could become a department head later.

- What would you like to say to your juniors?

▲ To succeed in society, expertise and the ability to produce results are important. After that, when you become a team leader or director, you cannot succeed by doing well alone. If you are responsible for a team, leadership is very important. Some people do well as team members but fail to rise because they lack leadership as team leaders. The virtues required differ by position. Until you become a team leader, focus on your own abilities, and when you become a team leader, it is important to harmonize the abilities of team members to produce results. After that, when you become a director, you handle external affairs and interact with many people, so communication becomes important. The virtues you need to develop expand. You must make efforts to cultivate virtues appropriate to your position.

- What are your future life goals?

▲ Internally, I want to be regarded as a really good senior or junior. Externally, I hope to be recognized and evaluated as the Director of the Financial Consumer Protection Department from within the FSS who, through diverse supervisory and inspection experiences, deeply understands the business practices and customs of financial companies and can protect consumers more robustly.

Director Kim Mi-young of the Financial Consumer Protection Department

Graduated from Seoul Girls' Commercial High School and joined the Bank of Korea in 1985. She later graduated from Dongguk University with a degree in English Language and Literature and joined the Financial Supervisory Service in 1999. She has worked in various inspection and supervisory departments at the FSS, serving as Head of the Anti-Money Laundering Office, Director of the Credit Finance Inspection Bureau, and Director of the Illegal Finance Response Team. While in charge of voice phishing crackdowns and responses, she earned the reputation of "Kim Mi-young catching Kim Mi-young." Last year, she became the first female Deputy Governor from within the organization.

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