Value context and insight. lkm@koreatimes.co.kr
FSC chair nominee faces daunting tasks of project financing, household debt management
Kim Byoung-hwan / Yonhap
By Lee Kyung-min
The soft-landing of real estate project financing vulnerabilities and the full implementation of the Corporate Value-up Program will top the policy priority list of the Financial Service Commission chairman-designate Kim Byoung-hwan, market watchers said Thursday.
Also crucial will be the low-income earner aid packages to relieve the debt service burdens for the underprivileged amid sustained elevated borrowing costs.
"The risk of real estate project financing is among the most pressing issues," he said shortly after the announcement of the designation at the presidential office in Yongsan District, central Seoul, Thursday.
"I'm given to understand the measures to aid project financing businesses with high leverages have been put in place over the course of the past six months. A continued effort will induce the full soft-landing in the latter half."
The Corporate Value-up Program is a financial policy initiative of President Yoon Suk Yeol, designed to reinvigorate the chronically stagnant Korean equity market. The drive has all but lost momentum after the crushing defeat of the ruling People Power Party in the April general elections.
During his tenure as a director of financial policy at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, he introduced the Asset Securitization Act to process distressed corporate and financial institution assets.
Also to his credit is the introduction of Primary Collateralized Bond Obligations to resolve corporate liquidity concerns.
Kim, the current first vice finance minister, will replace the incumbent Kim Joo-hyun.
He holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Seoul National University. He obtained a master's degree from the University of Birmingham in 2005.
His previous stints include ones at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the Inter-American Development Bank.
"I feel a deep sense of responsibility at a time of great importance. I will do my best at the confirmation hearing," he said.