The Korea Accounting Standards Board (KASB) held a nomination committee meeting on Wednesday and recommended Han Jong-soo, a professor at Ewha Womans University's College of Business Administration, as the top candidate for board chairman, with Kwak Byung-jin, a professor at KAIST's College of Business, as the second-ranked candidate.
The nomination committee selected two final candidates from the pool of nominees in accordance with its articles of incorporation and related regulations, assigned rankings, and recommended them to the general meeting of members, the committee explained.
The committee comprises representatives from seven major member organizations — Korea Exchange, Korea Listed Companies Association, Korea Federation of Banks, Financial Supervisory Service, Korea Financial Investment Association, Korean Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and Korean Accounting Association — plus the incumbent KASB chairman who serves without voting rights, totaling eight members. The committee is chaired by Chung Eun-bo, chairman of Korea Exchange.
Han is considered the frontrunner, as previous first-ranked candidates have traditionally been appointed as chairman. Han is recognized as a global accounting expert, having served on the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Interpretations Committee. He has also served as president of the Korean Accounting Association and as a member of the KASB standards committee. Kwak has also been involved with the KASB, serving on its sustainability advisory committee and as a junior research fellow.
The KASB will report to its board of directors on January 16 and appoint the chairman through a vote at the general meeting of members on January 19. The new chairman will serve a three-year term from March 1 next year to February 28, 2029. The KASB chairman also serves concurrently as chair of the Korea Accounting Standards Board and the Korea Sustainability Standards Board (KSSB).
