Ex-civil servant takes office as leader of insurance development institute

Korea Insurance Development Institute Chairman Heo Chang-eon delivers his inauguration speech at the institute's headquarters in Seoul, Monday. Courtesy of Korea Insurance Development Institute

By Lee Min-hyung

Heo Chang-eon, ex-civil servant at the Financial Supervisory Service, took office as the leader of the Korea Insurance Development Institute (KIDI) on a three-year tenure, Monday.

He started his financial career at the Bank of Korea in 1987 and moved to the Financial Supervisory Service two years later. He spent most of his time there before ending his career as a former assistant deputy governor. His career also includes a period as the former chief of the Financial Security Institute. Until last year, Heo worked as an inspection commissioner at Shinhan Bank.

The new leader of the institute is known to be close to President Yoon Suk-yeol, studying with him at Seoul National University.

“The insurance industry faces a new paradigm amid multiple risk factors caused by internal and external changes in market circumstances,” Heo said in his inauguration address. “We will garner all our efforts, so the industry can find a new way toward sustainable growth.”

He presented five core business strategies, including the institute's support for insurers' agile leap to digital transformation and their overseas expansion.

“The status quo is a challenge as well as an opportunity for the insurance industry,” he said. “We need to embrace it as new momentum for change and innovation, which will help brighten the outlook of the industry. The institute should also achieve a leap forward as a global insurance service institute with expertise as a representative insurance think tank here.”

He also pledged to enhance the institute's role as a bridge between insurers, consumers and financial authorities.

The KIDI is an insurance research institute whose key tasks include insurance rate making, product development and statistical research on the industry. The Financial Services Commission supervises the institute.