Yoon Jong-kyu, Chairman of KB Financial Group, will retire on the 20th.
On the morning of the day, Chairman Yoon held a retirement ceremony with employees as an internal event and then concluded his official schedule. At the shareholders' meeting on the 17th, Chairman Yoon stated, "I want to leave after completing the 15-year journey during which I worked with the spirit of collaboration, a challenging company, and expectations for a bright future," adding, "I step down with only happy memories, including the shining yellow badge I wore on my chest nine years ago and the yellow tie as familiar as a school uniform." Although he smiled throughout, Chairman Yoon showed signs of emotion while sharing his thoughts.
Chairman Yoon is credited with growing KB Financial into a leading domestic financial group during his nine years as chairman, overseeing the resolution of the 'KB Incident' and improving governance. He was often seen carrying a backpack and wearing a yellow tie, leading acquaintances to joke that he might have 'yellow blood.'
Even toward the end of his term, Chairman Yoon reportedly showed passionate leadership in executive meetings. He often told those around him that he was staying at a 'good hotel,' gradually preparing to pass the baton. He said, "I am relieved to have appointed Yang Jong-hee, an excellent successor, and I ask for your support for Yang, a prepared leader."
Chairman Yoon took office on November 21, 2014, shortly after the 'KB Incident,' in which former Chairmen Lim Young-rok and Lee Gun-ho clashed over the replacement of the bank's mainframe computer. Upon taking office, he concurrently held the positions of holding company chairman and bank president to prevent discord, and initiated governance improvements such as replacing all outside directors and strengthening internal audit systems.
A graduate of Gwangju Commercial High School, he joined the then Foreign Exchange Bank as a high school graduate bank clerk in 1973. While working at the bank, he attended night classes in business administration at Sungkyunkwan University and passed the Certified Public Accountant exam during his university years. He ranked second in the second stage of the 1981 civil service exam (25th session) but failed the third interview due to his history of student activism. Due to his impressive background, he earned the nickname 'genius from commercial high school.'
Chairman Yoon resigned from KB twice and rejoined three times. He left together with former KB Kookmin Bank President Kim Jung-tae in 2004 and returned as a Kim & Chang advisor when former Chairman Lim took office in 2013. After the 'KB Incident,' calls for an internal candidate to lead grew louder, and Chairman Yoon returned to the company in 2014.
After his inauguration, Chairman Yoon took bold steps to strengthen internal controls and laid the foundation for the current KB Financial through active mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Starting with LIG Insurance (now KB Insurance) in 2015, he led the M&A of Hyundai Securities (now KB Securities) in 2016 and Prudential Life Insurance (now KB Life Insurance) in 2020, strengthening the non-banking business. KB Financial achieved a record high cumulative net income of 4.3704 trillion won in the third quarter of this year.
His future moves are also attracting attention. Although there were expectations that Chairman Yoon would represent the financial sector as chairman of the Korea Federation of Banks, he declined the position. Considering the financial sector's custom of appointing retired executives as advisors, it is expected that he will take on an advisory role at KB Financial.
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