Bo-eun leads the digital content team. She has covered foreign affairs, North Korea, tech, economy and gender issues at The Korea Times. She did a short stint at the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, where she obtained a new perspective on news production and life. Small sources of joy for her are lounging in the sun, having a good latte and swimming.
Korean Re expands foothold in South America
By Kim Bo-eun
Korean Re CEO Won Jong-gyu
By Kim Bo-eun
The Korean Reinsurance Company (Korean Re) is set to grow its business in South America through a new office in Bogota, Columbia, the firm said Thursday.
According to Korean Re, it received approval from local authorities Feb. 18 to open the office.
Central and South America have great growth potential as the insurance penetration rate is low compared with other continents.
Korean Re said it sought to establish a new base in the region to disperse its continent-based portfolios.
The company said Columbia is in a strategic location to operate a business in Central and South America.
Several global reinsurers including Munich Re, Swiss Re and the France-based SCOR are in Bogota.
Korean Re now has 12 overseas outlets ― three subsidiaries, four branches and five offices. Six were opened in the past five years under CEO Won Jong-gyu's leadership.
Korean Re opened a subsidiary in London in 2015 and branches in Labuan, Malaysia, in 2017 and Dubai in 2018. Subsidiaries were opened in Zurich last year and in Shanghai in January.
"A base in Central and South America will enable more active pioneering into new markets," Won said. "We will continue efforts to overcome the saturated local market and become a top-class global reinsurer."
Korean Re's insurance premiums from overseas businesses grew to 1.86 trillion won in 2018, up from 1.64 trillion in 2017 and 1.45 trillion in 2016.
Korean Re is the world's 10th-largest reinsurance company in terms of gross written premiums.