Bank of Korea Appoints Bae Jun-seok as New Deputy Governor... Legal Expert to Address BOK Act (Comprehensive)

Bae Joon-seok, New Deputy Governor of the Bank of Korea

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunbyeol Kim] Bae Joon-seok, Director of the Planning and Cooperation Bureau, has been appointed to the position of Deputy Governor of the Bank of Korea, which had been vacant for three months.

Lee Ju-yeol, Governor of the Bank of Korea, appointed Director Bae as the new Deputy Governor on the 23rd. The term of the new Deputy Governor Bae is three years, from the 24th until November 23, 2023. The Deputy Governor position had been vacant for three months since Lee Seung-heon, the former Deputy Governor, was promoted on August 21.

Deputy Governor Bae is the first person with a doctorate in law to be appointed to this position at the Bank of Korea. Born in 1965, he graduated from Sangmun High School in 1984 and entered Korea University’s Department of Law, where he completed both his bachelor's and master's degrees before joining the Bank of Korea in 1991. After joining, he worked in various departments including the Policy Planning Bureau, General Affairs Bureau, Research Bureau, Financial Stability Bureau, Legal and Regulatory Affairs Office, and Planning and Cooperation Bureau. In 2008, he earned a Ph.D. in Law from Indiana University in the United States. Deputy Governor Bae is recognized as an expert on the Bank of Korea Act, and during his studies abroad, he studied Federal Reserve (Fed) law, gaining a deep understanding of central bank-related laws overall.

During his tenure as head of the Legal and Regulatory Affairs Office from 2016 to 2019, he effectively responded to the surge in legal issues related to personnel, organizational management, and the construction of the Bank of Korea’s integrated annex building. Since June last year, as Director of the Planning and Cooperation Bureau, he has practically overseen the emergency management system responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, contributing to the stable leadership of the organization.

The appointment of a legal expert as Deputy Governor coincides with the recent heightened interest in revising the Bank of Korea Act. The Economic and Fiscal Subcommittee under the National Assembly’s Planning and Finance Committee is reviewing a bill to add "employment stability" to the Bank of Korea’s establishment objectives. This reflects the view that, given the economic deterioration caused by the COVID-19 crisis, the central bank should pay more attention to employment in its monetary policy. The Bank of Korea plans to actively explain the economic effects of adding employment stability to the National Assembly.

As bills have been prepared to assign the Financial Services Commission the supervisory authority over big tech and fintech payment and settlement services such as Naver and KakaoPay, the Bank of Korea and the Financial Services Commission, which previously handled payment and settlement tasks in the financial sector, are in direct conflict. Conversely, there is also a bill proposing that the Bank of Korea should handle this issue. Recently, bills have also been introduced requiring parliamentary confirmation hearings for all members of the Monetary Policy Committee, reflecting growing interest in the Bank of Korea Act. Deputy Governor Bae expressed his determination, saying, "The procedures regarding the Bank of Korea Act are just beginning. I will respond well and provide explanations regarding future issues related to the revision of the Bank of Korea Act."