2 new BOK monetary policy board members nominated

The central bank has put forward an economics professor at Seoul National University and a former Bank of Korea deputy governor to replace two outgoing members.

Lee Soo-hyung [BOK]

Korea’s central bank said Friday that Lee Soo-hyung, an economics professor at Seoul National University, and Kim Jong-hwa, a former deputy governor of the Bank of Korea (BOK), have been nominated as new members of its seven-seat monetary policy board.

The two have been put forward to replace outgoing policymakers Suh Young-kyung and Cho Yoon-je, whose tenures ran from April 2020 through April 20 of this year.

Lee was recommended by the Ministry of Economy and Finance and Kim by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, one of the largest business lobbying groups in the country, according to the BOK.

Kim Jong-hwa [BOK]

They will start their four-year terms upon appointment by President Yoon Suk Yeol.

The BOK on April 12 kept the interest rate steady at 3.5 percent for the 10th straight meeting amid uncertainties surrounding heightened inflation and oil prices.

BOK Gov. Rhee Chang-yong said the board will maintain its restrictive policy for a sufficient period of time, though he added that the U.S. Federal Reserve’s signal of a pivot has given the world’s central banks room to decouple from its monetary policy.

The BOK's next monetary policy board meeting is scheduled to take place next month.

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