Deputy IBK CEO promoted

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) recommended Cho Joon-hee, deputy CEO and senior executive vice president, as the new head of the Industrial Bank of Korea, Thursday.

If the 56-year-old earns a final nod from President Lee Myung-bak, he will be the second CEO of the state-controlled bank, who is not a former bureaucrat. The first was CEO Kim Seung-kyung, who headed the bank from February 1996 to May 1998. The other 19 IBK CEOs were former government officials.

The government owns a controlling 65.1 percent stake of IBK.

The FSC said that Cho has a wealth of experience and expertise in the financial industry and played an important role in supporting small and medium enterprises during the global financial crisis.