The Korea Times close
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
Entertainment
& Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
Sports
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
Video
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • Site Map
  • E-paper
  • Subscribe
  • Register
  • LogIn
search close
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • Site Map
  • E-paper
  • Subscribe
  • Register
  • LogIn
search close
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
Tue, August 16, 2022 | 06:49
Business
Males Dominate Top Posts in Financial Sector
Posted : 2009-09-20 18:25
Updated : 2009-09-20 18:25
Print Preview
Font Size Up
Font Size Down


By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter

There are hundreds of chief executive officers in Korea's flourishing financial sector including banks, insurers, brokerages and asset management companies, who show diversity in ages, educational backgrounds, regions, religions and even ethnicities.

However, they lack diversity in the very important criterion of gender ― there are no female CEOs in the finance industry here.

Asia's No. 4 economy has 18 commercial or state-backed banks, 22 life insurers, 16 non-life insurers, 71 brokerage houses or futures firms, 68 asset management firms and four major accounting companies. Their CEOs are all men.

"Women play an increasingly important role throughout society. But the domestic financial segment is still overly underrepresented by females," said Kim Sang-kyung, head of the Korea Network of Women in Finance.

"It does not make any sense that an economy the size of Korea has no female financial CEO at all. The nation needs to come up with countermeasures to address this," she said.

The most prominent female in the private financial sector might arguably be Daishin Securities Chairwoman Lee Uh-ryung, the daughter-in-law of the brokerage's founder Yang Jae-bong, but the official CEO of the Seoul-based brokerage house is President Roh Chung-nam.

The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) has 67 executives and 220 team managers. Only two of them are women. The Bank of Korea (BOK) currently doesn't have a single female executive or team manager.

Rep. Lee Sung-nam of the main opposition Democratic Party had worked as a deputy governor in the FSS and a member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the BOK. But as soon as she left there was a dearth of high-ranking female officials.

The FSS is the country's top financial regulator, which oversees and monitors all financial sector entities, headed by Governor Kim Jong-chang.

The BOK is the central bank, which takes charge of monetary policies such as deciding benchmark interest rates every month spearheaded by Governor Lee Seong-tae.

Things are similar among financial policymakers of the Financial Services Commission and the Ministry of Strategy and Finance led by Chairman Chin Dong-soo and Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun, respectively. Both have no females in executive posts.

"As far as I know, women have never assumed an important policy-maker's job in the government since it was set up in 1945," said a government official in finance, also male.

"Up until now, gender equality among financial officials has never emerged as a serious issue for some reason. It culd be one of the last sectors where sexism still remains strong," he said.

As a reason for the resilient sexism, the official claimed that the country's financial bureaucrats have been overwhelmed with too "serious tasks" to pay attention to gender equality.

"Financial bureaucrats masterminded the modernization of the country between the early 1960s and late '90s, as well as the recovery from the currency crisis and credit card bubble," the official said.

"During the past year, they pulled out all the stops to grapple with the global financial crisis. While they have been busy in carrying out such tasks, no one could hardly raise the issue of gender equality," he said.

'Glass Ceiling'

An FSS official of the personnel department said that the regulator had more males in senior positions not because of sexism but because of the lack of female talent.

"In the past, women were reluctant to work as regulators. Hence, almost all the early members are male. We have few options in our talent pool," the official said via telephone.

"We are working hard to give more opportunities to females to the extent that some males complain. More than 35 percent of new recruits are women. We do not buy the criticism on sexism," he said.

He added the ratio of high-ranking females is very low in other areas where women were unwilling to work in the past such as the prosecution. His logic: time will solve the inequality.

In comparison, Eunice Kim, deputy president at Hana Financial Group, said the window of opportunities remains elusive for even qualified female workers, suggesting that so-called "glass ceiling" be removed for the progress of female talent.

"Women have struggled over the past few decades to overcome stereotypes and sex-based biases to climb the ladder of organizational hierarchies. For example, 30 years ago, they were expected to resign when they got married," Kim said.

"Global financial services companies have come to consider diversity as a high priority and it has contributed to making them more efficient in terms of utilization of their human resources. But Korean companies are slow in embracing the diversity principle as a part of their corporate culture," she said.

As a result, she added, that Korean firms are currently lagging behind those of other countries in the development and utilization of female talent.

Rep. Lee Sung-nam of Democratic Party agrees that femininity is important to deal with problems of the hegemonic masculinity and the country needs to nurture female talent in a more proactive fashion.

"Ladies are perfect fit for finance. Their delicacy is a competitive edge but the reality is that they are underutilized. They need to make their presence felt in the sector," Lee said.

"I think president and his staff need to put the gender inequality issue in the financial sector on the front burner," Lee said adding she was able to work at the FSS thanks to former President Kim Dae-jung who fought against sexism.

Lee said that the financial regulators or companies might be able to sign up female experts from outside at the senior level for the time being if they lack in-house candidates.

Kim, head of Women in Finance, said the temporary introduction of a female quota system might be a viable option to address gender inequality.

Her idea: The public sector might ensure that a certain proportion of bureaucrats are females in the finance area.

voc200@koreatimes.co.kr
 
LG
  • Hyundai Motor Group becomes world's No. 3 automaker in sales volume
  • Thinking the unthinkable on North Korea
  • 'Missing Here' song bridges Israel, Korea
  • 'Japan is our partner': Yoon vows to improve Seoul-Tokyo ties
  • Consumers angered by luxury fashion platforms' return policies
  • Life of early 'Koryoin' featured in exhibition
  • [Analysis] Yoon faces uphill battle to regain public trust
  • Customs agency considers taxing intermediaries for brokered overseas purchases
  • Will Hyundai Motor Group reorganize Mobis for governance reform?
  • Conflict reignites over relocation of POSCO Holdings to Pohang City
  • Interactive News
  • With tough love,
  • 'Santa dogs' help rebuild burnt forests in Andong
  • 'Santa dogs' help rebuild burnt forests in Andong
  • A tale of natural wine
    • Reality shows go abroad again amid eased COVID-19 travel restrictions Reality shows go abroad again amid eased COVID-19 travel restrictions
    • Late Samsung chairman's collection highlights painter Lee Jung-seop as family man Late Samsung chairman's collection highlights painter Lee Jung-seop as family man
    • [INTERVIEW] Actor Ko Kyoung-pyo explains why he doesn't obsess over lead roles [INTERVIEW] Actor Ko Kyoung-pyo explains why he doesn't obsess over lead roles
    • Girls' Generation music video director apologizes for copying design Girls' Generation music video director apologizes for copying design
    • Star directors' new series to A-listers' small screen comeback expected in coming weeks Star directors' new series to A-listers' small screen comeback expected in coming weeks
    DARKROOM
    • Ice is melting, land is burning

      Ice is melting, land is burning

    • Tottenham 6-3 Team K League

      Tottenham 6-3 Team K League

    • Afghanistan earthquake killed more than 1,000

      Afghanistan earthquake killed more than 1,000

    • Divided America reacts to overturn of Roe vs. Wade

      Divided America reacts to overturn of Roe vs. Wade

    • Namaste: Yogis to celebrate International Yoga Day

      Namaste: Yogis to celebrate International Yoga Day

    The Korea Times
    CEO & Publisher : Oh Young-jin
    Digital News Email : webmaster@koreatimes.co.kr
    Tel : 02-724-2114
    Online newspaper registration No : 서울,아52844
    Date of registration : 2020.02.05
    Masthead : The Korea Times
    Copyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.
    • About Us
    • Introduction
    • History
    • Location
    • Media Kit
    • Contact Us
    • Products & Service
    • Subscribe
    • E-paper
    • Mobile Service
    • RSS Service
    • Content Sales
    • Policy
    • Privacy Statement
    • Terms of Service
    • 고충처리인
    • Youth Protection Policy
    • Code of Ethics
    • Copyright Policy
    • Family Site
    • Hankook Ilbo
    • Dongwha Group