Ex-bureaucrat tapped as new KRX head

By Nam Hyun-woo

The Korea Exchange (KRX) named Korea Securities Finance Corp. (KSFC) CEO Jung Ji-won as the sole candidate for its new chairman, the country’s bourse operator announced Tuesday.

The KRX’s chairman nomination committee interviewed two candidates and selected Jung as the sole candidate who faces an approval vote at a shareholders’ meeting scheduled for Oct. 31.

If Jung wins the approval, he will start his three-year term Nov. 1, replacing Jeong Chan-woo who said in August he would step down as soon as a successor takes office.

Since Jeong’s announcement, the KRX had been publicly searching for its next chief. However, the process had been protracted as several candidates quit over accusations they were parachute appointees.

Jung also faces opposition from KRX union members, who claim the recruiting process was protracted in order to have Jung as chief.

Lee Dong-ki, KRX union head, said the Financial Services Commission (FSC) is exerting its effort to appoint former ranking bureaucrats to the post.

Jung is a bureaucrat who served at the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the FSC. He has been heading the KSFC since 2015.