Korea Life: nation’s first life insurer

Any player can climb the corporate ladder to become the No. 1 firm but the honor of the country’s first life insurer always belongs to Korea Life Insurance whose foundation stretches back to 1946.

The merits of Korea Life are not just about its long history but also its great business performance _ as one of the foremost insurers here, Korea Life has chalked up solid figures of late.

During the fiscal year 2010, which spans from April 2010 to March 2011, Korea Life recorded 481.3 billion won ($435 million) in net profits, up 15 percent from a year before, and its financial health also substantially improved.

As a result, the total assets rose to 63.73 trillion won as of this March, up by 4.72 trillion won from the previous year.

This prompted all of Korea’s three prominent rating agencies gave an AAA solvency ratio to Korea Life, an exploit that the insurer claims no other rivals have ever achieved.

Its CEO and Vice Chairman Shin Eun-chul said that Korea Life will turn its eyes to overseas markets to duplicate its success globally.

``We aim to introduce competitive and desirable insurance products to our policyholders through multiple channels and provide global asset management expertise,’’ Shin said on the firm’s Web site.

``In addition, we aim to become a more globalized financial services provider by monetizing the growth potential of emerging countries such as China and Vietnam and developing strategic partnerships in advanced markets such as the United States and Europe.’’

In 2009, Korea Life advanced into Vietnam for the first time among domestic competitors to take a firm root there _ its size increased by 30 percent last year from 2009.