Yoo to lead Citibank Korea's operation as interim CEO

Yoo Myung-soon / Courtesy of Citibank Korea

By Anna J. Park

As Citibank Korea's long-time CEO Park Jin-hei decided earlier this week to step down from his position without seeking another term, the bank's Senior Executive Vice President Yoo Myung-soon was tapped to lead the global lender's Seoul operation as an interim CEO from September.

The appointment of the interim CEO is drawing attention as if her position becomes permanent she will be the nation's second female CEO of a major bank. Previously, Kwon Sun-joo served as Korea's first female CEO of the banking industry, leading Industrial Bank of Korea for three years from 2014 to 2016.

The bank explained that the board of directors voted Tuesday to appoint Yoo as interim CEO to lead the bank's operation from September, yet whether Yoo will become the official CEO has not yet been decided.

According to the bank's official procedures, a new CEO will have to go through review by an appointment recommendation committee, shareholders and a board of directors, to be officially appointed.

As Park's original term is set to be completed near the end of October, it is expected that these procedures would take place sometime later this year.

The interim CEO Yoo is a banking expert with more than 30 years of experience. A graduate of Ewha Womans University, Yoo first joined Citibank Korea back in 1987. She briefly worked at JP Morgan Chase back in 2014 as a managing director, yet returned to Citibank Korea the very next year, leading the bank's investment banking sector as the Head of Corporate Banking until recently.

Park has held the CEO position for six years. He said he'd wrap up his work by the end of the month.