Financial Institutions Get Together to Usher in New Year
- DPM Lee H.J. expounds on need to create 400,000 jobs this year

Financial institutions ushered in the new year with a get-together at Lotte Hotel Jan.5 participated in by government leaders, lawmakers and leaders from the financial community totaling around 800.
Following the new year's gathering, the Korea Economic Daily announced the list of winners of the 14th Dasan Awards including Hana Bank president Kim Seung-yu, Shinhan Bank president Shin Sang-hoon and BC Card Co. president Lee Ho-gun.
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance-Economy Minister Lee Hun-jai headed a pack of dignitaries at the new year's first event for the financial community including Yoon Jeung-hyun, chairman of the Financial Supervisory Commission, Bank of Korea Governor Park Seung and Korea Bankers Association Chairman Shin Dong-hyuk.
DPM Lee, in his speech before the crowd, said the economic recovery would not be easy this year due to high oil prices and the unstable foreign exchange rate, among other uncertain factors. Yet, around 400,000 new jobs must be created at least as has been done last year to ease the difficulty of low-income people and improve the feel for the economy.
The government will focus on taking care of various matters leading to the economic recovery by promoting investment. It will support the growth of reform-minded small firms, as well as prop up the soft industry including service and knowledge-base sectors so that the venture industry will flourish with many new start-ups.
The high-tech and large business firms have been doing well, but they will be encouraged to expand their business areas so that they would be able to use their capacities to the fullest extent possible. The government will ease regulations and minimize its meddling. Last year, he said many financial systems were imported from advanced countries and many financial issues thrashed out. The operation of the financial market has been diversified for effective management of funds. The creation of private investment funds and retirement funds were introduced, along with an improvement in the management of retirement funds.
The government has also expanded the business territory of the securities industry in such a way as to making it possible for the industry to set up investment banks and grow.
Financial policies this year will be geared to reestablishing the roles of the government and financial institutions in line with these new changes that took place last year. The government will expand the supervisory function over the financial institutions to ensure their stable operations.
The government will also make sure that problems associated with household loans, loans to small and medium firms and credit defaulters would make a soft landing. Restructuring would be needed for long-term credit defaulters with the termination of the credit defaulter registration system in March.
The government will do all it can to ease the development of new financial products and protect investors by upgrading the role of the FSC focusing on the areas of soundness and pre-check ups. The government will make sure that advanced financial systems will take a root in the country this year so that the advanced financial frame would make the financial market and industry dynamic.
FSC Chairman Yoon said in his speech that the economic outlook for this year doesn't sound too promising. But we are used to coping with challenges; We have successfully overcome the financial crisis, showing that we can beat any challenges coming in our way.
Yoon said he would like to give an advice to the financial industry that it should do all it can so that private sector investment would be revived to spur economic resurgence. He, however, cautioned that he didn't mean that the industry should do every thing possible just like in the old days of high economic growth. Funds should be made available to competitive firms, not to any firms as happened sometimes under the old practice.
He said he has a strong conviction that the soundness of individual financial institutions has a bearing on the stability of the financial system. It is natural that financial institutions' concern for risk management following the financial crisis. But at times, they have been too cautious to the extent that they have been neglecting corporate borrowers eager to do business, not helping the national economy. Risks should be managed not avoided. Taking risks is a main job of the financial institutions, a chance they have to take to boost revenue, the FSC head said.
If a financial institution, which can understand, foretell and manage risks better than any institutions can, avoid taking risks, it would curtail business activities and in the end, hurt the profitability and soundness of the financial institution as in boomerang.
In this age of "Village Earth," financial institutions should not try to become only a top one in the country, but also they should aim at becoming a financial man in an advanced country. nw