By Yi Whan-woo
Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) Chairman and CEO Yoon Jong-won may well be the strongest candidate as the chief of Office for Government Policy Coordination, according to political and financial sources, Monday. Whoever fills the position will be responsible for assisting new Prime Minister Han Duck-soo to coordinate administrative issues.
The possible nomination of Yoon for the post comes as a surprise because he was a senior secretary for economic affairs for former President Moon Jae-in and accordingly advocated Moon's policies, which collide with the new Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol's market-driven economic vision.
Among Moon's policies was the income-led growth strategy that was based on active government intervention as well as the nuclear-phase out plan, all of which are to be scrapped under the Yoon administration.
Sources say it was Han who recommended Yoon, a former career financial bureaucrat who worked with Han in 2004 when he led the Office for Government Policy Coordination under President Roh Moo-hyun.
Yoon, 61, after working as Moon's senior secretary for economic affairs from June 2018 to June 2019, commenced a three-year term at IBK, a state-run lender.
Yoon still has some months remaining before his IBK tenure ends in January 2023.
In response to The Korea Times, an IBK public relations staff member said, "Nothing is known internally concerning Chairman Yoon's future and we only get related information from media outlets."
"This will be a political decision after all," the staff member added.
A seasoned expert on finance and commerce, he joined the finance ministry in 1983.
He built expertise in regard to fiscal and commerce policies at the ministry in the early part of his career while also serving at Cheong Wa Dae, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Prior to working for Moon, he was Korea's ambassador and permanent representative to the OECD.
He earned a bachelor's degree in economics and a master's degree in administration at Seoul National University. He holds a Ph. D in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) Chairman and CEO Yoon Jong-won may well be the strongest candidate as the chief of Office for Government Policy Coordination, according to political and financial sources, Monday. Whoever fills the position will be responsible for assisting new Prime Minister Han Duck-soo to coordinate administrative issues.
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| Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) Chairman and CEO Yoon Jong-won. Courtesy of IBK |
Among Moon's policies was the income-led growth strategy that was based on active government intervention as well as the nuclear-phase out plan, all of which are to be scrapped under the Yoon administration.
Sources say it was Han who recommended Yoon, a former career financial bureaucrat who worked with Han in 2004 when he led the Office for Government Policy Coordination under President Roh Moo-hyun.
Yoon, 61, after working as Moon's senior secretary for economic affairs from June 2018 to June 2019, commenced a three-year term at IBK, a state-run lender.
Yoon still has some months remaining before his IBK tenure ends in January 2023.
In response to The Korea Times, an IBK public relations staff member said, "Nothing is known internally concerning Chairman Yoon's future and we only get related information from media outlets."
"This will be a political decision after all," the staff member added.
A seasoned expert on finance and commerce, he joined the finance ministry in 1983.
He built expertise in regard to fiscal and commerce policies at the ministry in the early part of his career while also serving at Cheong Wa Dae, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Prior to working for Moon, he was Korea's ambassador and permanent representative to the OECD.
He earned a bachelor's degree in economics and a master's degree in administration at Seoul National University. He holds a Ph. D in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles.
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