KB Financial Group releases list of six chairman candidates

KB Financial Group announced a list of six candidates contending to become the company’s next chairman.

Hur Yin [KB FINANCIAL GROUP]

KB Financial Group announced a list of six candidates contending to become the company’s next chairman.

Vice Chairmen Yang Jong-hee, Hur Yin and Lee Dong-cheol were joined by Park Jeong-rim, head of the capital market, corporate and investment banking business and asset management group, as internal candidates.

The identity of the two other candidates from outside the company was not disclosed but will be revealed in the next shortlist to be announced on Aug. 29 if they make it onto the list of three.

Lee Dong-cheol [KB FINANCIAL GROUP]

Nominees from outside KB are assumed to have been recommended by specialized institutions, according to local media reports.

The finalist will be announced on Sept. 8 following in-depth interviews with the candidates, the company said. Yang, Hur and Lee, all born in 1961, have been appointed to major roles in KB.

Yang Jong-hee [KB FINANCIAL GROUP]

Yang was CEO at KB Insurance from 2016 through 2020, while Hur was CEO at KB Bank from 2017 through 2021. Lee was CEO at KB Kookmin Card between 2018 and 2021.

Park, born in 1963, is currently co-CEO at KB Securities. She was the first female appointed to lead a brokerage company in Korea in 2019.

“All the candidates, both from inside and outside the company, have sufficient expertise and experience to be able to carry on the role” of chairman at KB Financial Group, the Chairman Recommendation Committee, made up of the board directors, said in a statement on Tuesday.

Park Jeong-rim [KB FINANCIAL GROUP]

“We will do our best to ensure a fair competition takes place amongst the candidates from both inside and outside the company.”

The committee picked the candidates based on various factors, including work experience and leadership.

Incumbent KB chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo said he will not seek a fourth consecutive term and will bow out after nine years in the role, the company said on Sunday.

His term is slated to terminate on Nov. 20.

“I believe the board of directors will select an excellent candidate that will drive the group's continuous growth,” Yoon said in a handwritten letter to KB’s major shareholders.

KB is 8.21 percent owned by the National Pension Service, its largest shareholder.

“Upon inauguration nine years ago, KB Financial Group was facing a difficult situation filled with overwhelming challenges and uncertainties.” Yoon said, adding KB “was able to overcome a joint vision and will of the group members, and a solid faith in the potential of the group’s growth.”

KB’s stock price rose 1.17 percent on Tuesday after falling 1.54 percent a day earlier.

BY JIN MIN-JI [jin.minji@joongang.co.kr]