By Kang Seung-woo
Kim Jong-chang is the governor of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), whose primary functions are the examination and supervision of financial institutions.
The 62-year-old began his professional career at the Ministry of Finance in 1970 after passing the state administration examination for civil servants that same year and spent more than two decades at the ministry, serving as assistant director, director and director general as well as the financial and economic counselor in the South Korean embassy to the United Kingdom.
After completing a major in business administration at Seoul National University, the hard-working and ambitious Kim was named standing commissioner of the Securities and Futures Commission in 1998 and he also served as standing commissioner of the Financial Supervisory Commission in 1999 before becoming the deputy governor of the Financial Supervisory Service in 2000.
Kim, a native of Yecheon, North Gyeongsang Province, took the reins of the Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) in 2001 and under his leadership the state-run lender posted impressive numbers in profitability and paved the way for its privatization.
In 2004, he became a member of the Monetary Policy Committee at the Bank of Korea (BOK) and, two years later, he worked for a law firm as a senior advisor.
Following two years at the firm, he was appointed to the highest position of the nation’s financial watchdog in March 2008.
He obtained a master’s degree in Economics at the University of Washington in 1985 and honorary doctorate degree in business administration from Joongbu University in 2003.