Lee Chanjin, FSS Governor, Meets with Union... Discusses Establishment of Financial Consumer Protection Agency and Public Institution Designation

Dialogue with Governor Lee Chanjin on September 12
Protests and Forum Planned at the National Assembly Next Week
Union and Employees Hold "Black Attire Protest" for Fourth Consecutive Day
"Opposing the Hasty Passage of the Act on the Establishment of the Financial Services Commission"

Lee Chanjin, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, will meet with the labor union for the first time on September 12, exactly one month after taking office. They will discuss topics such as the separation and establishment of the Financial Consumer Protection Agency, the background behind the designation of the Financial Supervisory Service as a public institution, and response strategies. The union continued its protest against the reform of the financial supervisory system for the fourth consecutive day and plans to extend the industrial action to the National Assembly next week.

Seop Jeong, Acting Chairperson of the Financial Supervisory Service Labor Union (third from right), Taewan Yoon, Emergency Response Committee Chairperson of the Financial Supervisory Service (speaker), and other employees are protesting against the reform of the financial supervisory system on the first floor of the Financial Supervisory Service headquarters in Yeouido, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the 12th. About 700 employees participated in the protest, which lasted 32 minutes from 8 a.m. that day. Photo by Chaeseok Moon

Jeong Seop, Acting Chairperson (Senior Vice Chairperson) of the Financial Supervisory Service Labor Union, told reporters before the protest, "At 10 a.m. today, Governor Lee, Hwang Seono, Deputy Governor for Planning and Strategy, Acting Chairperson Jeong, and Yoon Taewan, Emergency Response Committee Chairperson (Vice Chairperson), are scheduled to meet." He added, "First, we will discuss the separation and establishment of the Financial Consumer Protection Agency; second, the background, position, and response strategies regarding the designation as a public institution."

About 700 union members and employees participated in the protest. From 8 a.m. for 32 minutes, they wore black clothing and gathered in the lobby of the headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, urging the withdrawal of the organizational restructuring plan.

On this day, the union and employees called on political circles and the government to thoroughly discuss the amendment to the Act on the Establishment of the Financial Services Commission. They chanted new slogans such as, "Thoroughly discuss the amendment to the Act on the Establishment of the Financial Services Commission," "Aren't you ashamed as financial experts? Financial Services Commission, get your act together," and "Restart the poorly drafted amendment to the Financial Business Act from scratch."

Yoon, Chairperson of the Emergency Response Committee, stated, "We are delivering messages to the Financial Services Commission regarding the Act on the Establishment of the Financial Services Commission and the amendments to individual industry laws, and I understand that Governor Lee and the Planning and Coordination Bureau have responded well and achieved some results." He continued, "Regarding the handling of individual industry laws, I believe it is time for the senior executives (Governor, Senior Vice Governor, Vice Governors, Deputy Vice Governors, and a total of 15 others) to step up, and I expect they will be at the forefront of this silent battlefield."

After the protest, he told reporters, "We are currently negotiating the revised provisions of the Act on the Establishment of the Financial Services Commission with the commission. Each Deputy Vice Governor of the headquarters is making efforts, and we have requested that they keep us (the union) informed of the progress." He added, "Any information we receive will be shared internally with the employees."

The Financial Supervisory Service labor union plans to continue protests next week. There is a possibility that a protest will be held in front of the National Assembly in Yeouido as early as the 17th. In addition, the union is discussing holding a forum with members of the People Power Party on the topic of financial supervisory reform. Yoon said, "We are planning a protest in front of the National Assembly next week, but it will be difficult to do so on the 15th or 16th." He added, "We are also working on organizing a forum with a People Power Party lawmaker, and we will make an announcement next week."

The union reported that although a face-to-face meeting with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was canceled, they are prepared to submit a written statement expressing their opposition to the reform of the financial supervisory system. Yoon stated, "We have secured channels through which we can submit our statement in some form."