Park Jae-hyuk is a seasoned journalist who has provided comprehensive coverage of South Korea's corporate dynamics, economic policies, industry challenges and the global positioning of Korean companies. Based on the articles he has written since joining The Korea Times in 2016, his investigative approach has helped readers understand corporate governance, economic trends and business strategies shaping South Korea’s economy.
Reshuffle of top financial regulators likely
Financial Services Commission Chairman Eun Sung-soo, center, answers to questions from lawmakers during the National Policy Committee meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul in this February file photo. With him is Financial Supervisory Service Governor Yoon Suk-heun. Korea Times photo by Oh Dae-geun
By Park Jae-hyuk
By Park Jae-hyuk
The replacement of the heads of the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) has become highly probable, since the administration appears to be carrying out a cabinet reshuffle if the ruling party candidates lose the April 7 mayoral by-elections in Seoul and Busan.
FSC Chairman Eun Sung-soo, who started his career as a government official at the finance ministry, has been mentioned as a successor to Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki, who became the longest-serving fiscal chief on Thursday. Hong is said to be stepping down after the by-election and is considering running for Gangwon Province governor in the local election in June of next year.
Although the FSC chairman is guaranteed a three-year term, most former chairmen have served for about two years. Eun's predecessor, Choi Jong-ku, also offered to resign on July 18, 2019, a day before his second anniversary there, so the incumbent chairman might also leave his position before the end of the year.
Eun has been wary of such rumors, which have already spread through social media. However, he told reporters Thursday that he knows nothing about personnel affairs.
Former First Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom speaks during a press conference, after a meeting on the economy at the Central Government Complex Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap
If Eun moves to the finance ministry, the strongest candidate for his replacement as FSC chairman is Kim Yong-beom, who resigned as the first vice finance minister Wednesday. Kim is known as a financial expert with almost a 30-year career as a government official. He has served as an FSC vice chairman and a senior economist at the World Bank.
He is also seen as a probable successor to FSS Governor Yoon Suk-heun, whose term will end next month.
Until earlier this year, Yoon had been expected to serve another term at the FSS, but that possibility has become less likely, due to his dispute with the FSS labor union, along with the resignations of his allies at Cheong Wa Dae, including former presidential chief of staff for policy Kim Sang-jo, who stepped down in disgrace on March 29 due to a rental property controversy.
The FSS union is trying to prevent another former professor from leading the institution, so Kim is regarded as the best person to serve as the FSS head without causing further conflict.
What matters at this moment is that Kim may not want to take another “vice minister-level” position, because he was the person with the longest government career among the vice ministers when he was serving as vice finance minister.
Kim may work for the Korea Institute of Finance (KIF), the Korea Capital Market Institute or other economic think tanks for a while, until the envisioned reshuffle of financial authorities. He had temporarily served as a visiting researcher at the KIF for three months, until he was appointed as vice finance minister in August 2019 following his resignation as FSC vice chairman in May of that year.
On the day he left the government, Kim wrote on Facebook that he would start studying historic figures that he likes, without mentioning his potential next job.
“My professional ego is as an individual economist,” he wrote. “During my spare time, I will read the books that I couldn't read and meet various people to look at our society and economy from a freer and more long-term perspective.”