By Yi Whan-woo
Lee Suk-joon, President Yoon Suk-yeol's former campaign chair for the 2022 presidential election, has been appointed to lead NongHyup Financial Group, the company announced on Monday.
The company said that Lee's appointment was confirmed by the shareholders and board of directors, Monday, after he was the only candidate to be recommended for the position by its executive candidate recommendation committee earlier the same day.
Lee's two-year term will begin on Jan. 1, and he will replace Chairman and CEO Son Byung-hwan, whose term will end a day before.
"The members of the nomination committee unanimously endorsed Lee as the candidate after narrowing down the list of potential candidates and conducting multiple stages of interviews with him in a thorough manner," the banking group said.
"Against all the uncertainties faced by the finance industry, the committee considers Lee the right man to guide NongHyup Financial Group in a new direction and map out a new plan for the next 10 years," it added.
A former career economic bureaucrat, Lee, 63, was the head of Yoon's campaign for the March 9 presidential election.
Lee laid the groundwork for Yoon's economic policies in the early stages of the presidential campaign and also served as Yoon's special economic advisor after he won the election.
Lee was previously the minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, which operates under the prime minister's office, during the 2013-17 Park Geun-hye administration.
The Office for Government Policy Coordination minister, in coordination with other ministers, is responsible for assisting the prime minister.
Lee held various key positions before becoming the minister, including as the vice minister in both the finance ministry and science ministry as well as chief of the finance ministry's budget office.
After retiring, he was a professor in the Graduate School of Future Strategies at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and a chair professor at Korea National Open University.
A Busan native, he passed the civil service exam in 1983. He holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Seoul National University and a master of business administration from MIT's Slogan School of Management.
Meanwhile, Lee's appointment came amid rampant speculation that the Yoon administration has been against the chairmen of banking groups extending their terms when they expire and thus was believed to have made use of his influence in appointment process.
Several terms of current chairmen are approaching their end, including that of Son of NongHyup Financial Group.
Son had been anticipated to take on a second term when his first two years at office ends on Dec. 31, especially considering that many of his predecessors did so.
In addition, Nonghyup Financial Group posted a record annual net profit of 2.29 trillion won in 2021 under Son's leadership, consolidating its status as the nation's fifth-largest banking group.
The lender posted a net profit of 1.35 trillion won ($1.02 billion) in the first half of 2022, which is the largest to date for any January-June period.
National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, which holds a 100-percent stake in Nonghyup Financial Group, then sought to find a pro-Yoon administration figure as the group's next leader instead of Son, according to industry sources.
Aimed at promoting the financial wellbeing of farmers, the federation is affiliated with the government.
Lee Suk-joon, President Yoon Suk-yeol's former campaign chair for the 2022 presidential election, has been appointed to lead NongHyup Financial Group, the company announced on Monday.
The company said that Lee's appointment was confirmed by the shareholders and board of directors, Monday, after he was the only candidate to be recommended for the position by its executive candidate recommendation committee earlier the same day.
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| Lee Suk-joon, incoming chairman of NongHyup Financial Group |
"The members of the nomination committee unanimously endorsed Lee as the candidate after narrowing down the list of potential candidates and conducting multiple stages of interviews with him in a thorough manner," the banking group said.
"Against all the uncertainties faced by the finance industry, the committee considers Lee the right man to guide NongHyup Financial Group in a new direction and map out a new plan for the next 10 years," it added.
A former career economic bureaucrat, Lee, 63, was the head of Yoon's campaign for the March 9 presidential election.
Lee laid the groundwork for Yoon's economic policies in the early stages of the presidential campaign and also served as Yoon's special economic advisor after he won the election.
Lee was previously the minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, which operates under the prime minister's office, during the 2013-17 Park Geun-hye administration.
The Office for Government Policy Coordination minister, in coordination with other ministers, is responsible for assisting the prime minister.
Lee held various key positions before becoming the minister, including as the vice minister in both the finance ministry and science ministry as well as chief of the finance ministry's budget office.
After retiring, he was a professor in the Graduate School of Future Strategies at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and a chair professor at Korea National Open University.
A Busan native, he passed the civil service exam in 1983. He holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Seoul National University and a master of business administration from MIT's Slogan School of Management.
Meanwhile, Lee's appointment came amid rampant speculation that the Yoon administration has been against the chairmen of banking groups extending their terms when they expire and thus was believed to have made use of his influence in appointment process.
Several terms of current chairmen are approaching their end, including that of Son of NongHyup Financial Group.
Son had been anticipated to take on a second term when his first two years at office ends on Dec. 31, especially considering that many of his predecessors did so.
In addition, Nonghyup Financial Group posted a record annual net profit of 2.29 trillion won in 2021 under Son's leadership, consolidating its status as the nation's fifth-largest banking group.
The lender posted a net profit of 1.35 trillion won ($1.02 billion) in the first half of 2022, which is the largest to date for any January-June period.
National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, which holds a 100-percent stake in Nonghyup Financial Group, then sought to find a pro-Yoon administration figure as the group's next leader instead of Son, according to industry sources.
Aimed at promoting the financial wellbeing of farmers, the federation is affiliated with the government.
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