Former BOK governor dies at 85

Kim Kun

By Kim Jae-won

Former Bank of Korea (BOK) Governor Kim Kun died Friday at the age of 85 of natural causes, the central bank said Monday.

Kim had led the BOK from 1988-1992 under the Roh Tae-woo administration. The Busan native contributed to strengthening the central bank’s autonomy from the finance ministry. He sought to change the BOK Law to make it more independent from the shadow of the government.

Kim studied political science at Seoul National University and spent most of his four-decade career at the central bank. He also headed the Korea Securities Exchange, the predecessor of the Korea Exchange, in the 1980s.

He is survived by his wife Lee Kwang-il and three sons, Jae-min, Seong-min and Hwang-min. He is a son of Na Hye-sok, the first Korean female artist practitioner of Western painting.