Lee Dong-chul (pictured), former CEO of KB Kookmin Card, has been selected as the next head of the Credit Finance Association of Korea.
The association said it held its second chairman candidate recommendation committee meeting at the Lotte Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Thursday, where it exclusively recommended Lee to the general assembly as the sole candidate for next chairman after he won a majority of votes.
Earlier, at the first recommendation committee meeting late last month, three people had been placed on the shortlist: Lee, former Woori Financial Capital CEO Park Kyung-hoon, and former National Assembly Speaker policy chief Yoon Chang-hwan. The recommendation committee was composed of 15 members in total, including committee chairman Sung Young-soo, CEO of Hana Card, along with 14 CEOs of card and capital companies and one association auditor.
In a phone call with Seoul Economic Daily immediately after the committee meeting, Lee said, "There are so many tasks piled up in the industry — growth, profitability, soundness and more — that it is difficult to single out just one." He added, "I will communicate broadly while balancing and coordinating the interests and pending issues across each sector."
Born in 1961, Lee graduated from the law school of Korea University and completed a law degree at Tulane University Law School in the United States. He served as managing director of the strategic planning department at KB Financial Group, vice president of the management planning division at KB Life Insurance, vice president and chief strategy officer (CSO) of KB Financial Group, and CEO of KB Kookmin Card, before becoming vice chairman of KB Financial Group, overseeing the global, insurance, digital and IT divisions. He is regarded as a representative professional manager in the financial sector with experience spanning not only the card business but also insurance and the global and digital fields.
Lee's final appointment will be confirmed if a majority votes in favor at the member companies' general assembly on the 16th of this month. If finally appointed, Lee will serve as the 14th chairman of the Credit Finance Association for a three-year term.
This election concluded after eight months, having been delayed since the term of current chairman Jung Wan-kyu expired in October last year. It drew industry attention as it was conducted as a competition centered on private-sector financiers, without candidates from the ranks of financial authority bureaucrats. This marks the second time a private-sector figure rather than a former government official has taken the post since the association chairmanship became a full-time position, following former chairman Kim Duk-soo (former CEO of KB Kookmin Card).
