Who is Lee Jae-keun?
Lee Jae-keun speaks at his inauguration as CEO of KB Kookmin Bank at the bank's headquarters in Seoul, Jan. 3 2022. He is named KB Financial Group's next chairman, Friday. Courtesy of KB Financial Group
Lee Jae-keun, who was named KB Financial Group's next chairman on Friday, is a KB veteran who has held senior roles spanning finance, strategy, global operations and wealth management for more than three decades.
Lee, born in 1966, graduated from Sogang University with a degree in mathematics before studying financial engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.
In 1993, he joined Housing & Commercial Bank, a predecessor of KB Kookmin Bank, and has spent more than three decades at KB.
Lee served as head of financial planning and chief financial officer (CFO) at the holding company, where he played a leading role in the acquisitions of LIG Insurance, Hyundai Securities and Woori Financial, a consumer lending company formerly owned by Woori Financial Group, helping diversify the group's non-bank portfolio.
He then moved to the banking unit, serving as CFO and head of sales before being named the industry's youngest bank chief in 2022. During his three-year tenure, Lee helped reshape the bank's earnings structure and laid the groundwork for record net income in 2025.
Since last year, he has overseen the group's global, wealth-management and small- and medium-sized enterprise businesses.
Lee's appointment is due to be finalized at a shareholder meeting on Nov. 20, when incumbent Chairman Yang Jong-hee's current term expires.