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Lee Pal-seung |
By Kim Jae-kyoung
Staff Reporter
The new head of Woori Financial Holdings has vowed to speed up privatization and boost its non-banking sector in order to transform the state-funded firm into a global player.
The ad-hoc CEO recommendation committee announced Thursday that it had nominated Lee Pal-seung, CEO of Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, as new chairman of the financial group.
At a press conference following the announcement, Lee said that his first priority was speeding up the privatization of the group and improving its competitiveness
``Woori Financial should reinvent itself as a global player, and merger and acquisition (M&A) can be one option in achieving that goal,'' Lee said.
``Woori has focused on the banking sector but I will put more effort into boosting non-banking sectors, such as securities and insurance,'' he added.
He pinpointed a lack of unity between subsidiaries as the group's key weakness, saying, ``To make improvements in this area, I will make more efforts to promote cross-selling between subsidiaries so as to create better synergy.''
A native of Hadong in South Gyeongsang Province, Lee, 65, will replace former CEO Pak Byeong-won who earlier tendered his resignation after the government called for a need to change the heads of state-owned firms in order to facilitate its privatization drive.
Lee, who studied with President Lee Myung-bak at Korea University, is expected to take office as early as late June after receiving approval from the board of directors and shareholders.
Graduating from Korea University with a law major, Lee started his career as a banker at Hanil Bank, spending 38 years there until he took office at Woori Investment & Securities in 1999. After holding the top job at the securities firm for five years, he moved to the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra in 2005.
kjk@koreatimes.co.kr
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