By Kang Seung-woo
Staff reporter
Korean Re, the undisputed No. 1 reinsurer in Asia, has a shot at becoming a top-tier global player by expanding beyond this region.
Its CEO Park Jong-won said that the company plans to deepen its roots in international insurance markets.
“Korean Re intends to sharply increase its share of overseas business. Thanks to solid credit ratings from S&P, its overseas business focus will shift from Asia to the Middle East, Eastern Europe and South America in the maiden stage,” Park, 65, said in a written interview with The Korea Times.
The credit-rating agency gave Korean Re an A minus in 2009 for the fourth consecutive year.
“After that, we will move further to Europe and the Americas. Korean Re is trying to become a truly global reinsurance company from a regional one.”
The reinsurer, established as a state-owned company in 1963, was on the verge of bankruptcy during the Asian financial crisis in 1997 due to sluggish earnings. At that time, its operating loss reached 382 billion won.
But Park was named as CEO in July 1998 and the former government finance officer helped the ailing firm to successfully overcome the financial fiasco.
Since then, his full-strength efforts in expanding its operations and drastic internal innovations have put the company on a steady track to rapid growth, swinging its net profit into the black to the tune of 3.7 billion won in the 1998 fiscal year.
It raised 4.2 trillion won from reinsurance premiums last year and its net profit, which averaged 2.3 billion won between 1963 and 1998, climbed to 79 billion won, with its total assets being 4.3 trillion won.
Thanks to Park’s endeavors Korean Re’s status has soared on the international stage of reinsurance. It ranked 28th in 1997 and continued to rise to 13th in 2009, which is the best record in Asia.
This year, it is expected to crack the top 10 list in terms of the amount in premiums collected from insurance firms totaling 4.7 trillion won.
Park, who became the longest-serving CEO in Korean financial corporation history after being named for his fifth straight term in June due to his outstanding achievements, strives to further his drive to become a world-class reinsurer under its “Vision 2020” plan, which aims at becoming one of the top five companies in the sector by 2020.
In addition, Korean Re is aiming to increase its ratio of overseas revenue from 19.3 percent, or 821 million won, in 2009 to 35 percent by 2015 and eventually 50 percent by 2020.
As part of the plan, the company has been active in expanding its global network.
There is a branch in Singapore and five liaison offices in London, Tokyo, New York, Beijing and Dubai.
“We will try our best to belong to the top five global reinsurers,” he said.
Meanwhile, Korean Re has put the emphasis on improving its employees’ capabilities through various programs.
When recruiting new staff, it has conducted an outdoor interview to evaluate applicants in terms of group adaptability, physical fitness and manners.
After hiring them, it offers opportunities to pursue a Master of Business Administration (MBA) course overseas and to work at its foreign branch and liaison offices and at local financial institutions to produce professionals.
Walking along the Baekdu-daegan highlights Korean Re’s efforts to nurture its employees. The Baekdu-daegan is the mountain range that runs through the Korean Peninsula.
The firm believes that ridge hiking by all executives and employees, launched in 2003, contributes to strengthening corporate bonding.