Anna Jiwon Park has been covering the politics at The Korea Times since the summer of 2024, when she joined the press pool for the Office of the President in Korea. Prior to that, she spent about five years reporting extensively on financial markets, regulatory authorities and the financial industry. She joined The Korea Times in 2019 after spending eight years as a broadcast journalist at Arirang TV, Korea’s leading global broadcaster, covering politics, defense and culture.
Major Korean financial firms seek to strengthen foothold in Indonesia
Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) Governor Lee Bok-hyun, far left, stands with South Korean Ambassador to Indonesia Lee Sang-deok, second from left, Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo, fifth from left, Mirae Asset Securities Chairman Choi Hyun-man, sixth from left, along with other key participants of the “K-Finance Week in Indonesia 2023” at the St. Regis Jakarta in Indonesia, Thursday. Courtesy of KB Financial Group
By Anna J. Park
FSS holds K-Finance Forum in Southeast Asian country
By Anna J. Park
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Korea and Indonesia, Korean financial leaders from Korea's supervisory authority and private financial firms have vowed to strengthen financial cooperation and partnerships with the Southeast Asian country.
Seven Korean financial firms ― KB Financial Group, Hana Financial Group, Mirae Asset Securities, Korea Investment & Securities, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, Hanwha Life Insurance and KB Insurance ― jointly hosted the “K-Finance Week in Indonesia 2023,” a two-day program held in Jakarta, beginning Thursday.
The event is also part of Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) Governor Lee Bok-hyun's five-day overseas investor relations itinerary to Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia, which kicked off on Monday.
During the K-Finance Forum, a key program of the two-day event saw about 150 participants attended the forum, including Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo, Mirae Asset Securities Chairman & CEO Choi Hyun-man, KB Kookmin Bank CEO Lee Jae-keun, Korea Investment CEO Jung Il-mun, Samsung Fire CEO Hong Won-hak, Hanwha Life CEO Yeo Seung-joo and KB Insurance CEO Kim Ki-hwan. Indonesia's Investment Minister as well as the deputy governor of the Bank Indonesia, the country's central bank, also attended, along with the heads of financial firms there.
“I hope this event could offer opportunities for both countries' joint growth in financial sectors,” Ham Young-joo, chairman of Hana Financial Group, said in his opening address at the forum.
The chief of the FSS also delivered his hope for K-Finance in his keynote speech at the event: “Globalization is an essential task for strengthening financial industries' competitiveness. I hope K-finance can bring forth fresh energy across the country, as K-pop has been doing.”
On Friday, Samsung Fire, Hanwha Life and KB Insurance jointly hosted the “K-Insurance New Vision Cooperation Forum.” Mirae Asset Securities held its ESG investment seminar during the forum.
“We hope the two-day event has provided a chance for participating firms to strengthen mutual cooperative moves between the two countries,” an official from KB Kookmin Bank, which organized the two-day program, said.