Eximbank chief Choi Jong-ku nominated as FSC head

Choi Jong-ku, CEO of the state-run Export-Import Bank of Korea, has been nominated as the chairman of the Financial Services Commission.

Cheong Wa Dae on Monday said it expected Choi to become a game changer in curbing household debt, tackling unemployment, stabilizing people‘s quality of life and seeking efficiency in corporate restructuring.

“As a nominee of the FSC chief in charge of crafting financial policies for the national economy, I feel grave responsibility,” Cho said in his nomination speech held in the Eximbank headquarters in Seoul Monday. 

Cho also vowed to tackle the household debt issue, which he said has dragged the economic growth and consumption, with a long-term approach,

“There is no shortcut to reduce the volume of the debt,” he said.

When asked about whether the overhaul of the financial authorities -- the FSC and the Financial Supervisory Service -- he said the authorities have long taken action but has yet to come up with a clear answer. But Choi added he is open to policy discussion.

He also hinted that his policy on unemployment might not come in sync with those proposed by the Moon Jae-in administration.

This came after Choi was appointed as the head of the Eximbank in March.

Choi, a 60-year-old career bureaucrat, is well known for his expertise in international finance.

During the 2008 financial crisis Choi stabilized the currency market by spearheading in currency swap deals with the United States, China and Japan.

Born in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, in 1957, Choi graduated from Korea University with a major in Trade and received a master’s degree in Public Policy and Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

By Kim Yoon-mi (yoonmi@heraldcorp.com) and Son Ji-hyoung (consnow@heraldcorp.com)