KDB President Resigns, More to Follow

The Korea Development Bank (KDB) said Sunday that its president Kim Chang-rok submitted the letter of resignation to the government on April 12. Kim is the first head of state-owned financial institution to announce resignation since the new administration embarked on a personnel shake-up in public organizations.

The announcement is likely to lead to a series of resignation by other heads of public financial organizations. “We will have the heads of state-owned financial companies submit letters of resignation and then selectively accept them,” said a source from the Financial Services Commission last weekend.

Kim’s term of office expires this November, but many in the financial community have predicted his early resignation, citing the new government’s plan to privatize the KDB and the critical comment President Lee Myung-bak had made about the bank’s authoritarian management practices.

Among state-run company chiefs, Han Lee-hun, president of Kibo Technology Fund, and Kim Gyu-bok, president of the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund, are likely to be replaced since their terms of office expire this June and July, respectively.

On the other hand, Yun Yong-ro, president of the Industrial Bank of Korea, who was inaugurated last December, Park Dae-dong, president of the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation, and Lee Cheol-hui, president of the Korea Asset Management Corporation, have stayed in the office for less than six months, and thus have more chance to keep their posts.

jarrett@donga.com