NongHyup Financial Group Announces Leadership Nominations Amid Uncertainty

NongHyup Financial Group has nominated Kang Tae-young, vice president of NH Capital, as the final candidate to lead its key affiliate, NongHyup Bank, according to an announcement made on Friday.

The group also disclosed that Park Byeong-hee, the current vice president of NongHyup Life Insurance, and Song Chun-soo, a former vice president of NH Property and Casualty Insurance, have been selected as the sole CEO candidates for their respective companies.

Additionally, the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, which fully owns the financial group, put forward Jang Jong-hwan, the federation’s managing director, as the nominee to head NH Capital. Kim Jang-seob, a former vice president of NongHyup Life Insurance, has been chosen to lead NH Savings Bank. Meanwhile, NH Venture Investment CEO Kim Hyun-jin has been recommended for another term.

The six nominees will undergo a rigorous screening process conducted by the group’s executive recommendation committee or their respective boards of directors later this month to assess their qualifications. If approved, the new appointees are set to begin their terms on January 2.

These nominations follow the impending expiration of the current CEOs’ terms for all six companies on December 31. However, delays by the executive recommendation committee had prolonged the finalization of candidates. The group remains undecided on its own chairmanship, as NongHyup Financial Group Chairman Lee Suk-joon’s two-year term is also nearing its end.

Lee, who previously served as campaign chair for President Yoon Suk-yeol during the March 2022 election and later as Yoon’s special economic adviser, was appointed to lead the group in December 2022. His connections to the government and the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation are seen as factors influencing the group’s cautious approach to selecting new leadership.

Political science professor Shin Yul of Myongji University commented that the group’s decision-making process is unsurprising, given the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the current government, which may only last for months as the Constitutional Court deliberates on President Yoon’s impeachment.

While the chairman of NongHyup Financial Group is traditionally granted an extended term, Lee has repeatedly expressed a desire to step down after his first term. He cited accountability for a series of irregularities that affected NongHyup Bank over the past year.

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