Political 'Dark Horse' Emerges in Race for Next Credit Finance Association Chairman... "Term Likely to Begin in July"

Application Closes with Five Candidates on May 19,
Private-Sector-Only Scenario Overturned
Rumors of Park Kyunghoon's Leading Candidacy Now in Doubt
Public Official Ethics Committee Review Could Delay Appointment by Up to a Month

Five candidates have applied for the next presidency of the Credit Finance Association, with one confirmed to be a former politician. If a candidate subject to review by the Public Officials Ethics Committee is elected, there is a strong possibility that the next president’s term will begin in July.

According to the credit finance industry on May 20, the Credit Finance Association's Nomination Committee closed the application process for presidential candidates at 6 p.m. on May 19, resulting in a total of five applicants. The candidates are reported to be Lee Dongcheol, former CEO of KB Kookmin Card; Park Kyunghun, former CEO of Woori Financial Capital; Kim Sangbong, Professor of Economics at Hansung University; Yoon Changhwan, former Chief Secretary to the Speaker of the National Assembly; and Jang Dojoong, former Policy Advisor at the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Dr. Yoon, the former Chief Secretary, served as Chief Secretary to the Speaker of the National Assembly during the Moon Jae-in administration in 2018 and has been a visiting professor at Chung-Ang University's Graduate School of Media and Communication, Ewha Womans University’s Graduate School of Policy Science, and Seoul National University’s Graduate School of Public Administration. He holds a doctorate in political science.

Until now, the prevailing view was that former CEO Park was the 'dark horse,' with all five candidates said to be from the private sector. Some in the industry had hoped for a strong candidate from the public sector to address major issues facing the credit finance industry, so there were some expressions of disappointment at the absence of such candidates.

However, with the news of Dr. Yoon's application, the dynamics of the election have shifted significantly. With the entry of a political figure, the race now consists of one political candidate, one public sector candidate, and three from the private sector.

According to the Credit Finance Association, the remaining election schedule is as follows: on May 27, the shortlist will be narrowed down to three candidates, followed by a vote by the CEOs of the association’s member companies on June 4.

If Dr. Yoon is elected, the process could be delayed by about a month due to the need for employment screening by the Public Officials Ethics Committee, including the approval of the sole candidate and the convening and voting at the general meeting. In this case, the election of the next president is expected to be completed by July at the latest.

Under the Public Officials Ethics Act, if the next presidential candidate has retired from a public institution designated by the Ethics Committee within the past three years, the committee must review whether there is a close connection between the candidate’s work during the five years before retirement and the institution where employment is sought. The current president, Jeong Wankyu (former CEO of Korea Securities Finance Corporation), was also approved as the sole candidate in September 2022 but, since Korea Securities Finance is considered a public institution, he underwent employment screening for a month before taking office in October of that year.

The next president will be tasked with addressing major issues such as easing preferential commission rate regulations, strengthening growth engines for stablecoin distribution businesses, relaxing card loan regulations, and easing ancillary business regulations related to IT data for small business owners. For this reason, there is a growing call within the industry that the next president should be someone with outstanding external cooperation skills to work effectively with the government and the National Assembly.

An industry official commented, "With the emergence of Dr. Yoon, the landscape has changed completely. The narrative that the absence of high-profile former public officials as candidates made the race less competitive has disappeared, and now the real contest begins."

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