Koh Young-chul, chairman of Gwangju Munhwa Credit Union, has officially declared his candidacy for the 34th chairman election of the Korean Federation of Community Credit Cooperatives (KFCC), scheduled for January 7, and has launched full-scale campaign activities.
Koh, who is drawing attention as a well-prepared candidate capable of simultaneously addressing the soundness, internal controls, and future growth engines of credit unions, presented his vision of "a federation that revitalizes cooperatives and a credit union system that leads the future" in his declaration on December 23.
"Amid growing uncertainty in the financial environment, I will restore the soundness of credit unions and members' trust through leadership that best understands the field, and establish a foundation for sustainable growth," Koh said.
Gwangju Munhwa Credit Union, which Koh has led for 32 years, is recognized as a representative example of grassroots finance that has grown alongside its members' lives based on community foundations.
The credit union has maintained profitable operations for all 32 years without a single year of losses, achieving both steady dividends for members and local economic revitalization. This performance was built on responsible lending that considers members' repayment capacity and regional conditions rather than short-term profits, along with long-term, substantive financial support for local businesses and small merchants.
Based on this leadership, Koh is regarded as a quintessential "credit union man" who understands both the theory and practice of credit unions. He founded Gwangju Munhwa Credit Union himself and experienced every role from working-level manager to standing director to chairman in the field. He subsequently served as a director of KFCC, giving him an understanding of both the federation and individual cooperative structures.
"The answers to credit union problems are found in the field," Koh said. "Someone who knows the reality of cooperatives must lead the federation."
He prioritized improving credit union soundness as his top agenda item.
"To normalize cooperatives with weak financial structures, I will ease the requirements for management normalization support funds and actively support capital expansion by converting part of the reserve fund surplus into cooperative equity capital," Koh said. "For cooperatives in capital impairment, I will provide concentrated support through linked loans and lending-type performance products at an annual scale of 5 trillion won each to achieve substantive recovery of their revenue base."
Koh also outlined specific measures for strengthening internal controls.
"I will activate the current rotating supervision system by grouping credit unions into units of 10 and introducing a dedicated supervisor system to establish a permanent internal control framework," he said. "I will also introduce a loan review specialist system for each regional headquarters to strengthen screening expertise and minimize non-performing loans in advance."
Regarding institutional improvements to reduce the burden of non-performing loans, Koh explained: "When new loan loss provisions arise, I will create a matching provision fund where the federation shares the burden with cooperatives. I will also convert the existing NPL subsidiary into an asset management company to manage distressed assets over the long term and establish a structure to return excess profits generated through post-settlement back to cooperatives."
He emphasized "grassroots finance" once again, pledging to create a financial system that takes responsibility for the regions and people that large financial institutions have neglected, from the closest proximity and for the longest term.
"Grassroots finance is not simply small-scale finance, but long-term finance that shares responsibility for the survival of local businesses, ordinary citizens, and the self-employed," Koh said. "The federation should not be an organization that evaluates and controls the field, but a pillar that supports regional credit unions so they can fulfill their roles."
