Former Bank of Korea Governor Rhee Chang-yong has left office after completing his four-year term. Rhee often stood at the center of controversy with his signature blunt style. Yet as the old Korean saying goes — "tall people are often light-hearted" — few policy chiefs have matched the sense of humor of the 190-centimeter-tall former governor. As a reporter who covered Rhee, I recall several anecdotes.
In 2023, amid mounting project financing (PF) problems, mid-sized builder Taeyoung Engineering & Construction filed for a workout program. Lee Bok-hyun, then Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) governor and a former prosecutor, sharply criticized Taeyoung's self-rescue plan for omitting personal fund contributions from the owner family. Shocked by the FSS's stance, a top Taeyoung executive met with Lee in person to discuss the situation. After some media outlets reported on it, questions arose as to why the FSS governor was taking the lead on a matter that should have been driven by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) chairman. When I asked Rhee why the Taeyoung executive appeared to have bypassed the FSC chairman and met with the FSS governor, he answered crisply: "People in the world all know where the power lies, don't they?"
Rhee also led the "F4 (Finance 4)" meetings, bringing together the heads of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF), the BOK, the FSC and the FSS. A symbolic moment came in September 2024. With just over 10 days left before a Monetary Policy Board meeting, Rhee visited the MOEF — the first BOK governor ever to do so. "The MOEF's efforts played a role in stabilizing prices quickly," Rhee said, praising Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok. The market at the time took note of the "bromance" between the heads of the fiscal and monetary authorities at such a delicate moment ahead of a rate decision. Speculation emerged that the BOK might accommodate the government's desire for a rate cut. Indeed, 10 days later, the BOK's Monetary Policy Board abruptly lowered the policy rate for the first time in 38 months, entering a pivot.
Rhee was also an uncomfortable presence for officials at key ministries such as those handling education and labor. He proposed that the BOK "break free from the BOK temple and be reborn as a noisy BOK," and did not hesitate to put forward policy proposals related to social structural reform. A representative example was a policy report suggesting that, to address the low birth rate, Korea needed to introduce "foreign domestic workers" exempt from the minimum wage, as in Hong Kong. The Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL), the agency in charge, did not hide its displeasure, asking at the time, "Why is the BOK making such a proposal?" He also raised the need to improve import and distribution structures to address unstable agricultural prices, exemplified by "appleflation." Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Minister Song Mi-ryung, a former academic, pushed back strongly, calling it "an analysis that fails to take into account the unique characteristics of the agricultural sector" — producing the awkward spectacle of a clash between the BOK and the agriculture ministry.
Another vivid episode involved drawing the resentment of newlyweds. At the time, the BOK was in a difficult position to cut rates further after the pivot, given instability in the won-dollar exchange rate and the housing market. With economic growth falling below 2 percent, Rhee, as the head of the monetary authority, was in a bind, and the solution he came up with was scaling back policy loans. He concluded that without restricting the Didimdol and Beotimmok loans — which had ballooned beyond a manageable level in line with the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's policy to boost birth rates — it would be impossible to address rising household debt and housing market instability. He repeatedly pointed out that adjustments to policy loans were necessary, and his view was ultimately accepted, leading to a sharp reduction in policy loans.
All things considered, Rhee was a new type of central bank governor, unlike any seen before. Just before stepping down, he even drew unfriendly looks by declaring he would "become a sniper YouTuber." Despite numerous controversies, one of the messages Rhee delivered to Korean society remains valid today: to prevent low growth from becoming entrenched, innovation is needed, and this is only possible through structural reform across society. He advised BOK staff to "embrace innovation" and to "become smart mavericks who actively put forward ideas without being bound by convention." It is clearly a message that Korean society — still trapped in chronic ills in real estate, labor and education — should continue to take to heart.
