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CEO Gets Wisdom From Customers

By Kim Jae-won Staff Reporter Lee Chong-hwi, the lender's CEO, emphasizes two principles ― "getting back to basics" and "the customer has the answer." Lee took the top executive position in June 2008 just before the global financial crisis hit the nation. At the time, local banks were competing to increase their asset size, but he turned this expansion mode into stable growth. Due to Lee's conservative policy, the loan-to-deposit ratio has gradually dropped since the fourth quarter of 2008. It marked 111.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009, 15.9 percent less than a year ago. Lee has experience both in headquarters and branches over his 40-year career in the industry. Over time he has realized that customers hold the answers to most problems. So, he regularly visits traditional markets to listen to customers' opinions as well as to experience where the real economy is at. Earlier this month, CEO Lee visited a beneficiary of Woori Smile Microcredit Bank to see whether there was any way to improve its program. The CEO headed to Youngdong traditional ma

Kookmin Bank Prioritizes Risk Management

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff Reporter After recovering quickly from the worldwide financial market turmoil, Kookmin Bank is looking to further solidify its position as Korea's largest retail lender in the post-crisis era by improving its bottom line and strengthening its risk management. It also aims to build a more customer-friendly sales force, create synergy with its affiliates and introduce ``green'' and other innovative financial products to become a leader in Asia and beyond. The bank, originally established in 1963 through a merger with the Housing & Commercial Bank in 2001, has grown into a financial entity with 280 trillion won worth of assets under management and some 26 million customers. ``In 2010, governments around the world will tighten existing regulations and introduce new ones on banks in an effort to prevent the recurrence of the global financial crisis. Also, regulators will likely impose a range of rules on financial services companies to better protect the rights of retail customers. With these changes, we will face much fiercer competition from our rival

KB Seeking to Become Asias Top 10 by 2013

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff Reporter KB Financial Group aspires to become a globally competitive comprehensive financial services company in the post-crisis world through strengthened risk management and second-to-none customer services. Korea's largest financial holding firm aims to solidify its dominant position in the banking sector by expanding its customer base and sales networks, as well as bolster its non-banking sector to attain a balanced growth and maximize synergy creation among its subsidiaries. Additionally, the group plans to make inroads into foreign markets with its strong sales capability, brand image and risk management. Through mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and organic growth among its financial units, KB Financial seeks to increase its assets to 600 trillion won by 2013 in a move to join the top 10 financial groups in Asia and top 50 in the world. KB Financial comprised of nine subsidiaries ― Kookmin Bank, KB Life Insurance, KB Real Estate Trust, KB Investment, KB Credit Information, KB Data System, KB Asset Management, KB Futures and KB Investment & Securit

Export-Import Bank of Korea Chairman Kim Dong-soo, ...

Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group Chairman Chung Mong-koo, ...

Andrew Barrett, left, vice president of marketing ...

Kim Yu-na, second from left, the newly-crowned Olympic ...

Employees of the Saint-Nazaire Dockyard of STX ...

Mr. President — A Kingpin in Nation Building

By Park Chang-seok Kyung Hee University Professor Ethiopia helped South Korea during the Korean War. The African country sent 6,037 soldiers to South Korea to fight the Communist invasion during the bloody 1950-53 war during which the peninsula was reduced to ashes. Korea ranked below Ethiopia and Ghana six decades ago. Korea was synonymous with poverty. Now, Korea provides aid to Ethiopia. It is a stunning reversal. A recent news photo of Ethiopian students smiling in a school built by Koreans tells well of the change of the two comparable countries. Ethiopia is now the poorer nation with its per capita income standing at around a mere $280 in 2008, compared with Korea's $19,136 for the corresponding period. Unlike the other countries on the list of rich nations, Korea has emerged from obscurity, or to be more exact, poverty, to take its place among the economic powers. Korea is globally applauded as a country that has successfully joined the ranks of the world's top traders with its trade volume slipping in at 10th place after a steady climb during the decades after t

Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) Governor Kim Jong-chang ...