President's Term Ended in January, Prolonged Interim Management
Open Recruitment Held Last Month, Extraordinary Shareholders' Meeting Scheduled for End of This Month
Presidential Appointment Required by Procedure... Focus on Acting President Han's Decision
Korea Asset Management Corporation (KAMCO) will finalize its shortlist of candidates for the next president by the end of this month. This comes about 100 days after the term of President Kwon Namjoo ended in January 2025. Once the shortlist is determined, the decision will move to the government. Since the appointment must be made by the president, attention is focused on the decision of Acting President Han Ducksoo. If the process is passed on to the next administration, it could take a considerable amount of additional time before the final confirmation.
According to the financial industry on April 23, KAMCO will hold a general shareholders' meeting at the end of this month to make the final decision on the presidential candidate. Three candidates will be shortlisted, and one will be selected as the final nominee. The KAMCO Executive Recommendation Committee (Imchuwi) held an open recruitment for the president in early March, and after document screening and interviews, narrowed down the list of candidates.
Although President Kwon’s term ended in January 2025, a successor has not yet been appointed. The Executive Recommendation Committee was formed in November 2024, but the process was halted due to the ongoing impeachment situation. President Kwon has continued to serve for the sake of business continuity, but there are growing concerns within the financial sector about the prolonged interim management system.
The halted selection process resumed in January 2025, when Choi Sangmok, Deputy Prime Minister for Economy and Minister of Economy and Finance, who was then Acting President, instructed that appointments for public institution heads be expedited.
Once KAMCO finalizes its candidate through the general shareholders' meeting, the decision will move to the government. As a quasi-governmental institution, KAMCO’s appointment process requires a nomination by the Chairman of the Financial Services Commission and a final appointment by the president. Although the presidency is currently vacant, Prime Minister Han Ducksoo, as acting president, can make the appointment. However, with the authority shifting from Deputy Prime Minister Choi, who had shown a strong will by issuing public instructions, to Prime Minister Han, there is increased uncertainty about whether the appointment will proceed.
Political volatility has increased, with the presidential election date now set, and the opposition party has openly expressed dissatisfaction with appointments of public institution heads at the end of the current administration. A financial industry official stated, "Among the concerns about potential business disruptions due to the domestic political situation and the leadership vacuum, the final decision will depend on where Acting President Han places his priorities."
Meanwhile, unlike KAMCO, the selection of a new president for the Korea Inclusive Finance Agency (Seogeumwon), another financial public institution, remains uncertain. Although the term of President Lee Jaeyeon ended in early January 2025, even the Executive Recommendation Committee has not yet been formed. A financial industry official commented, "As Seogeumwon is classified as another public institution, there is no mandatory regulation requiring the formation of an executive recommendation committee before the term ends," adding, "The selection process is expected to normalize only after the next administration is established."
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