Yoon's ex-election camp aide emerges as candidate to lead NongHyup Financial

Lee Suk-joon, right, then-minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, speaks during an annual parliamentary audit of his office in this photo taken in October 2016. Industry sources said Tuesday Lee is being considered as a potential candidate to lead NongHyup Banking Group. Korea Times file

By Yi Whan-woo

Lee Suk-joon, former chief of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, is being considered as a potential candidate to lead NongHyup Banking Group, according to sources familiar with the matter, Tuesday.

If realized, Lee will replace incumbent NongHyup Financial Group Chairman and CEO Son Byung-hwan, who was thought to be going for his second term after taking office in January 2021.

A former career economic bureaucrat, Lee was the minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, which operates under the Prime Minister's Office, during the 2013-17 Park Geun-hye administration.

The minister, in coordination with other ministers, is responsible for assisting the prime minister.

Lee has ties with President Yoon Suk-yeol, working in his camp for the 2022 presidential election and being a key architect of Yoon's economic and financial policies.

Before Lee's emergence as a possible Nonghyup Financial Group chief, industry sources believed Son would be able to extend his term considering many of his predecessors did so after completing their first two-year terms.

Also, Nonghyup Financial Group posted a record annual net profit of 2.29 trillion won in 2021, consolidating its status as the nation's fifth-largest banking group.

The lender posted a net profit of 1.35 trillion won ($1.02 billion) in the first half of 2022, which is the largest to date for any January-June period.

“And such a favorable mood for Son to extend his tenure has changed rapidly since last week,” an industry source said, noting the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation gave the green light to appointing outside figures as the next chairman.

The federation owns a 100 percent stake in Nonghyup Financial Group and thus has influence over the firm's chairmanship.

Nonghyup Financial Group was formerly led by multiple retired economic bureaucrats, while Son was the firm's second figure who came from its own ranks to reach the top.

Meanwhile, industry sources speculate Lee's possible appointment as the next chairman could trigger a controversy over “parachute appointees.”

The term refers to figures who have been appointed to high-level positions due to their connections with the current government or ruling party.