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| The Korea Development Bank (KDB) logo is seen in front of its headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul. Korea Times file |
By Yi Whan-woo
New Korea Development Bank (KDB) Chairman Kang Seog-hoon is facing a bumpy road with a series of politically sensitive — as well as long-pending — issues awaiting him.
Kang was barred from entering his office on his first day of work in Yeouido, Seoul, Wednesday, as unionized members of the KDB were protesting his appointment.
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| New Korea Development Bank (KDB) Chairman Kang Seog-hoon / Korea Times file |
Calling Kang a "parachute appointee," the protesters demanded that he state his view on the relocation plan.
Kang did not answer their demands directly. He instead said, "The topic can be a subject of discussion," when quizzed by a unionist as to whether he finds it right to move the KDB headquarters.
He was confronted by the unionists for about 10 minutes and then headed to an undisclosed location in Seoul to receive briefings from KDB executives.
"It is likely the new chairman will struggle with getting to work for the time being," a source familiar with KDB said, noting that the unionists vowed "not to allow him to take a single step into the KDB" in a statement issued Tuesday in protest of Kang's appointment.
The string of botched sales of financially troubled companies, noticeably Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME), SsangYong Motor and KDB Life, is likely to be a key concern for him as trillions of won in taxpayers' money have been injected despite the snowballing national debt.
In April, KDB's plan to sell its subsidiary, KDB Life, to JC Partners, a private equity firm, collapsed after nearly a year and a half of negotiations, because JC Partners failed to meet the conditions for the takeover.
The sale of SsangYong Motor collapsed in March, after the much smaller carmaker, Edison Motor which had been chosen to buy it, failed to make part of the payments by the deadline.
In January, the planned takeover of DSME by Hyundai Heavy Industries was called off after the European Union rejected the acquisition deal between the world's two largest shipbuilders.
The deal required the EU's consent but it raised an objection over the possibility of a monopoly regarding liquefied natural gas carriers.
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