IBK Bank President Yoon Jong-won Mentions 'Change' Eight Times in Inaugural Address (Comprehensive)

Inauguration Ceremony 27 Days After Appointment... Mention of Innovative Finance and Sound Management

Yoon Jong-won, President of IBK Industrial Bank, is taking a commemorative photo with employees after his first day at the IBK headquarters in Euljiro, Jung-gu, Seoul on the 29th. It has been 27 days since his inauguration on the 3rd. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] Yoon Jong-won, President of IBK Industrial Bank of Korea, mentioned 'innovative finance' and 'proper management' as his first words upon taking office. He expressed his ambition to support innovative small and medium-sized enterprises, which are the driving force of economic growth, and to maintain customer trust. In his inaugural speech, he emphasized the need for IBK to break away from exclusivism and transform itself in the rapidly changing financial environment by mentioning 'change' eight times, indicating his intention to pursue internal innovation.

On the 29th, Yoon held an inauguration ceremony at the Euljiro headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, and took office as the 26th president of IBK. It was 27 days after his appointment on the 3rd, during which he was blocked from going to work by the union's protest against appointing an external president.

He said, "We must innovatively change ourselves to meet the diverse financial needs of small and medium-sized enterprises," adding, "We will sufficiently supply venture capital to entrepreneurs with creativity and ideas and establish a customized support system according to each growth stage." To this end, he plans to improve the credit risk evaluation system focusing on companies' technological capabilities and future potential.

He also mentioned proper management. Yoon stated, "Even world-class companies lose customers' trust if they break the law or engage in unethical behavior," and added, "We will establish common-sense management in all areas such as personnel and organizational culture, and enhance transparency and predictability in organizational operations to maintain the bank's trust."

He urged employees to prioritize trust and competence. Referring to lessons from the KIKO and Derivative-linked Fund (DLF) incidents, he emphasized the need to prioritize customers when selling financial products and managing risks to increase trust and develop skills.

Throughout his inaugural speech, Yoon stressed the necessity of 'change.' As a former bureaucrat and an internal candidate, it is interpreted as his determination to carry out reform and innovation across systems, institutions, and culture, which would not be easy otherwise. This aligns with President Moon Jae-in's remark earlier this month regarding the IBK president appointment: "If change is needed, bring in external talent; if stability is needed, promote from within."

He said, "We will establish transparent and fair personnel standards and create a system where each employee is evaluated based on performance and capability," adding, "Requests through favoritism, school ties, or regionalism will be strictly dealt with according to laws and internal regulations, and disadvantages will inevitably follow."

Furthermore, Yoon emphasized, "For IBK to become a stronger bank, it must abandon exclusivism and adopt an open attitude," and added, "Diverse opinions will be freely discussed, and when necessary, external expertise will be fully utilized to create an organization full of change and vitality."

Meanwhile, after the inauguration ceremony, Yoon told reporters that he plans to promote the introduction of voluntary retirement in cooperation with other financial public institutions.

He said, "As a policy bank, IBK has many related institutions such as the Export-Import Bank, Korea Development Bank, and Korea Credit Guarantee Fund regarding the introduction of voluntary retirement," adding, "There are issues of fairness with other institutions (financial public enterprises) and differences with competing institutions, so we will work jointly with policy banks in the same position to improve the situation."

The introduction of voluntary retirement has long been a wish of financial public enterprises. Although the need for voluntary retirement is high due to personnel stagnation, budget issues are an obstacle. Approval from the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Financial Services Commission is required to implement voluntary retirement, but since it involves large retirement benefit expenditures, its introduction is not easy.