By Kang Seung-woo
Staff reporter
Kookmin Bank CEO Kang Chung-won stepped down Tuesday after serving about six years at the helm of the nation's largest bank.
His resignation came after Euh Yoon-dae, chairman of KB Financial Group, received confirmation for his chairmanship at the shareholders' meeting on the same day.
Although his term was to end at the end of October, he left the bank to enable Euh to reorganize KB.
"It was the most significant moment in my life to work at Kookmin Bank," Kang said in a farewell speech.
"I am really grateful to all the executives and employees for doing a great job at the bank and hope that it will soar again under new leadership."
Kang, who also served as vice chairman of KB, might have mixed feelings about Euh's inauguration. He was nominated for the top post of the group last December, but he withdrew his nomination amid the regulator's intense audit into KB and its flagship Kookmin Bank.
The bank has also been entangled in allegations that the inner circle of President Lee Myung-bak might have influenced the nomination.
The bank said that Kang plans to return to study at Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in the United States, where he got his master's degree.
Choi Gie-ui, senior executive vice president of the strategy division, will lead the bank as an acting CEO, and Euh said that he will appoint the new CEO shortly.
After leading Bankers Trust Company and Deutsche Bank in Seoul, Choi headed Seoul Bank. Then he was appointed as the CEO of Kookmin Bank in November 2004. As the head of the nation's largest lender, he got off to a good start with impressive results.
In 2005, the lender became the first in Korea to break the 2 trillion won mark in net profit and it remained at that level for three straight years.
After being reelected as CEO, Kang was involved in major bids to take over a securities firm and convert to become a holding company.
However, Kookmin Bank has recently failed to stamp its authority on the industry in the wake of the global financial crisis. Its investment in Kazakhstan's Bank CenterCredit (BCC) has incurred a huge loss and many loans extended for real estate projects are running high risks of turning sour.
Despite his departure, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) is expected to announce the outcome of its inspection into Kang and KB Bank next month.