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Korea Exchange CEO Kim Bong-soo, fifth from left, ...

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Minister resigns over hiring of daughter

By Kim Young-jin With the G20 Summit just two months away, Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Yu Myung-hwan has resigned over the controversial hiring of his daughter as a trade expert at the same ministry. Though President Lee Myung-bak is expected to wait until an investigation into the case is completed before making his final decision, the resignation raised the question of who might fill the role to replace the nation’s top diplomat. Yu has been in the hot seat since last week over allegations that his ministry treated his 35-year-old daughter preferentially in naming her to a mid-level post dealing with trade affairs, causing public anger at the news. “Minister Yu has decided to voluntarily step down as he felt sorry to the people about the backlash the hiring of his daughter has caused,” ministry spokesman Kim Young-sun said Saturday. Yu apologized Friday and said his daughter would not take the job but he maintained that the hiring process had been fair. His most likely successor appears to be Kim Sung-hwan, senior presidential secretary for foreign aff

Hana Bank CEO Kim Jung-tae, left, explains to the lender’s employees

Samsung Life Insurance CEO Lee Soo-chang, center in the front row

Alessandra Ambrosio, a world-famous model known

Collective, yet flexible approach key for G20 success

The following is the transcript of the interview with Indian Ambassador to Korea Skand R. Tayal. ― ED. By Lee Tae-hoon The Korean government has vowed to prioritize the setting up of a global financial safety net and addressing the needs of emerging and under-developed nations. Could you clarify India’s position on those issues? The recent economic indicators are positive and it appears that the immediate global and financial crisis is behind us. However, we require a global financial safety net to ensure that we are on the path of long term recovery which is not exposed to periodic shocks. Sustainable recovery of the global economy depends on several factors. These include how the major economies fare, enhanced expenditure on infrastructure development, stable capital flows to the developing markets, energetic macro-economic adjustments and speeding up of financial sector reforms. Global financial safety nets should be based on three pillars. The first pillar is a domestic safety net of adequate Forex reserves; the second pillar is regional and bilateral swap tools

G20 urged to speed up IMF reform

This interview is part of articles highlighting Korea’s preparations for the Nov. 11-12 G20 Summit slated for Seoul, marking 70 days before the summit. ― ED. By Lee Tae-hoon For Korea, there are a myriad of daunting tasks to address as host country before the G20 Seoul Summit slated for Nov. 11 to 12. Among them, what seems most elusive is to find the middle ground on reform of international organizations, particularly the International Monetary Fund. Earlier this year when the world was still experiencing the global financial crisis, it didn’t seem so difficult to bridge the gap between advanced and emerging countries as the two sides shared the view that developing economies should play a bigger role in the post-crisis world. In previous summits, the leaders of the G20 nations agreed to speed up reform on the IMF quota system to give a greater say to under-represented emerging countries and to complete the initiative by the Seoul Summit. However, with the crisis seemingly over and the forum approaching, the issue is becoming controversial as advanced countries, m

Shinhan Financial Group CEO Shin

Woori Bank CEO Lee Chong-hwi, center, cuts