Kookmin Bank CEO Kang Chung-won

By Lee Hyo-sik
Staff Reporter

Kookmin Bank CEO Kang Chung-won places top priority on providing the best quality customer service in order to solidify the bank's status as Korea's largest lender and turn it into one of top financial services providers in Asia and beyond.

Kang's management philosophies center on an idea that Kookmin should become an organization that provides its customers with precise financial information in a swift and friendly manner to gain public trust and build good reputation in the financial market. ``Our future depends up on whether we gain trust from our customers. We should be able to provide a top-quality service and products at a cheap cost in a speedy manner. At the same time, more efforts should be made to develop differentiated products on a continuing basis.''

The CEO said all Kookmin employees should keep the ``customer-first'' policies in mind and adopt internationally-recognized best practices, adding he will do his best to improve their capabilities and come out with a long-term roadmap to nurture global talent. ``Workers themselves need to make more efforts to develop themselves. Only then, we will be able to transform ourselves into a speedy and flexible bank to more effectively cope with rapidly changing consumer needs and market conditions.''

Kang started his career as a clerk 30 years ago and became the leader of the nation's biggest commercial bank, becoming a role model for those who are involved in the financial services sector.

Kang also stressed the importance of Kookmin's corporate social responsibility, saying the lender will help those who cannot benefit from financial services because of poor credit records or low income. ``We will set up a separate institute that offer micro credit and other financial services in support for low-income households and other underprivileged as part of efforts to fulfill our duty as a responsible corporate citizen.''

leehs@koreatimes.co.kr