Evaluation of Financial Policies in the First Year of the Yoon Seok-yeol Government Press Briefing
"Financial Services Commission and Financial Supervisory Service, Puppets of the Presidential Office"
Criticism of Labor Intervention and KDB Relocation
Park Hong-bae, Chairman of the National Financial Labor Union, is speaking at a press conference held on the 16th at the National Financial Labor Union conference room in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by the Joint Struggle Headquarters of Financial Workers of the Two Major Labor Unions
Financial labor organizations have sharply criticized the financial policies of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, which has marked its first year, citing issues such as government-controlled finance, interference in labor-management matters, and the SG Securities stock manipulation scandal.
The Korea Federation of Trade Unions’ National Financial Industry Labor Union and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions’ Office and Financial Workers’ Union held a press conference on the 16th at the National Financial Union conference room in Jung-gu, Seoul, stating, “The Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service, which are responsible for the soundness and stability of the financial industry, are acting as puppets of the presidential office, destroying finance and the economy,” defining the Yoon administration’s financial policies as government-controlled finance.
The financial union claimed that at the center of this is the Financial Services Commission’s “Task Force (TF) on Banking Sector Management, Business Practices, and System Improvement.” Park Hong-bae, chairman of the financial union, pointed out, “At a time when the domestic financial system risks and the soundness of financial and non-financial companies should be checked and prepared due to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the financial authorities issued an inappropriate prescription based on President Yoon’s remarks about ‘public goods’ and a ‘perfectly competitive system.’” He criticized the fact that the financial authorities presented SVB as a model case during the TF meeting discussing the introduction of specialized banks just before SVB’s collapse.
He added, “The financial supervisory agencies going around banks, twisting arms to raise and lower interest rates is also government-controlled finance,” and criticized, “Financial policies are being handled not from an economic policy perspective but are being used solely for political purposes.”
Criticism of interference in labor-management relations continued. Lee Jae-jin, chairman of the Office and Financial Workers’ Union, said, “The government and financial authorities have ignored the efforts of financial labor and management to contribute to society and have been only eager to attack the financial sector. They have not stopped unconstitutional remarks and actions interfering not only with the performance bonuses and retirement benefits of financial company executives but also those of employees,” and pointed out, “They exerted pressure on employer organizations regarding bank business hours, forcibly restoring unilateral changes that ignored labor-management agreements.”
They also criticized the ongoing procedure for relocating the Korea Development Bank. Kim Hyung-sun, senior vice chairman of the financial union, said, “The Financial Services Commission, which has been working for years to create a financial hub, irresponsibly handed over the head office relocation plan submitted by the Korea Development Bank’s management to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport within just a week. This act will be judged by history,” and added, “Sending it to Busan despite knowing that Seoul will be the center of the global financial industry in the future is close to breach of trust.”
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