National Pension Fund Head Resigns
By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
Park Hae-choon, president of the National Pension Service, resigned Friday with one year and nine months left to expire his term.
His resignation came after he was reprimanded for losses incurred from derivative investments he was involved in as Woori Bank president, which collapsed as the result of the global financial crisis last year.
Hwang Young-key, now president of KB Financial Group, who preceded Park as Woori head, received strong disciplinary action for his role in the losses, putting himself under great pressure to step down from his current post.
The service said Park expressed his resignation to health minister Friday afternoon. The minister accepted it, it added.
A spokesman for the institute cited the president as saying, "I would like to take a rest for a while. If possible, I will devote myself to developing my hometown."