KB Kookmin Bank President Candidate: Lee Hwan-joo, CEO of KB Life (Comprehensive)

KB Financial Group held the 'Affiliate CEO Candidate Recommendation Committee (hereinafter 'Daechu Committee')' and announced on the 27th that it has selected Lee Hwan-joo, the current CEO of KB Life Insurance, as the next candidate for KB Kookmin Bank President.

Candidate Lee Hwan-joo has extensive experience in key core roles within the group, including branch manager of KB Kookmin Bank Gangnam Kyobo Sageori Branch, Star Tower Branch Manager, Head of Sales Planning Department, Head of Foreign Exchange Business Division, Executive Director of the Personal Customer Group, Vice President of the Management Planning Group, and Executive Vice President and CFO of KB Financial Group. Based on this, he possesses on-site insight and management capabilities to realize a balanced sales-centered management philosophy.

The Daechu Committee evaluated, "Candidate Lee is a leader who can simultaneously lead organizational stability and change through strengthening global business execution, fundamental internal control innovation, corporate culture reform, and establishing clear communication processes," adding, "He also possesses customer-centric thinking and bold execution capabilities."

In particular, while serving as CEO of KB Life Insurance, Candidate Lee achieved a successful integration of Prudential Life Insurance and KB Life Insurance through swift organizational restructuring and process innovation by presenting clear direction and vision. He is also recognized for demonstrating excellent management skills by pioneering new markets such as entering the nursing care business.

The Daechu Committee stated, "We have recommended Candidate Lee Hwan-joo as the final candidate who can steadily promote substantial growth and lead consistent enhancement of corporate and shareholder value through capital and cost-efficiency-centered structural improvement," adding, "The recommendation of Candidate Lee marks the first case of a KB Financial affiliate CEO becoming a bank president. It reflects KB Financial's personnel philosophy that an executive who has proven outstanding performance across all areas of KB Financial, including the holding company, bank, and non-bank sectors, should lead the largest affiliate, the bank, to maximize synergy between banking and non-banking."

A KB Financial Group official said, "In response to the challenging management environment, including the narrowing net interest margin (NIM) due to declining market interest rates and increased volatility in global financial markets, management expertise capable of promoting core business growth of KB Kookmin Bank is required at this time," adding, "It is expected that excellent young talents who can lead innovation will be boldly selected as executives to assist the bank president."

Meanwhile, the Daechu Committee has been continuously managing an internal and external candidate pool that meets the qualifications for the bank president to ensure stable management succession. Since September, three months before the expiration of the current bank president's term, detailed criteria for selecting the next bank president candidate were established, and a long list was finalized.

Subsequently, a process was conducted to narrow down the long list to a short list through thorough verification of job experience, performance creation, and organizational management capabilities. Considering the qualities and potential required for the core competencies demanded of the next bank president, one final candidate was recommended today.

Following the resolution of KB Financial Group's 'Daechu Committee,' KB Kookmin Bank will hold the 'Bank President Candidate Recommendation Committee' to conduct in-depth interviews, evaluations, and recommendations of the candidate, and the appointment of the bank president will be finalized at the shareholders' meeting. The term of the next KB Kookmin Bank President will be two years starting from January 2025.