Korean Re's Brilliance Continues

Reinsurance firm comes away with Gold Award at the Dasan Financial Award in recognition of its achievement

President Park Jong-won holds the Gold Trophy of the Dasan Financial Award 2010 that Korea Reinsurance Corp. won along with Chairman Kim Seok-dong of Financial Services Commission, left.

Korea Reinsurance Co. won the Gold Award at the Dasan Financial Award 2010 in the area of non-life insurance business for its strong comeback from near collapse in 1998 from the foreign exchange crisis, led by President Park Jong-won, who successfully restructured the company and overcame the crisis. Now, the reinsurance firm is tops in Asia and ranked 11th in the world in terms of operation.
CEO Park set the record for having been reappointed CEO for five consecutive terms and he won his strong reputation for resuscitating the firm with changes and reform. He led his officers and staff on mountain climbing excursions three times a year, often to climb famous mountains in the country including the Baekdu Grand Mountain Range where they would spend a night on the mountain for workshops and physical training, enabling them to dust off the negative images about the company and come up with fresh ideas.
Those field activities helped Korean Re climb out of the hole it was in and improve its performance. For the past 11 years since CEO Park took the helm, the company recorded sales revenue increases of 12 percent annually every year and in the fiscal year from April 2009 to April 2010, the companyOs income totaled 145.3 billion won. Korean Re, through its continuous drive for change and renovation, will strive to rank among the five largest in the world in the area of reinsurance by 2020.
The CEO said in his statement on the company's website that Korean Re has been protecting customers' assets from unexpected accidents and disasters and caring for their wellbeing since its establishment in 1953 through its outstanding reinsurance technology and solid financial capability.
"We are continuously increasing the companyOs value with innovative management and challenging attitudes and as a result, we are now the top Asian reinsurance firm and were ranked 12th in the world in 2006. Our aim is to build a total asset base of at least 5 trillion won by the year 2010 and to become among the worldOs top five by the year 2020. As the industry advances, the danger of disasters that could threaten our safety and wellbeing also increases and gets more complex. Korean Re is a young, energetic company that has been protecting you from behind the scenes until now. And we will be there for you in the future, too, focusing on providing you with even better reinsurance services and improving your quality of life," the CEO's statement continued.
Korean Re's management vision is the realization of globalized management to become one of the world's top five reinsurance firms by 2020, optimizing productivity through the principle of having the business run by a few good people. Building the worldOs best innovative, moral and professional human resources through continued investment; the realization of a corporate culture that has a competitive edge through an advanced, transparent organizational system and responsible relationship between the company and its employees; practicing social responsibility - a company that returns corporate profit to society.
Korean Re's management philosophy is to pursue satisfaction through innovative and flexible management. Its global vision is striving to further expand its life insurance underwriting activities overseas. The company intends to deepen its roots in the insurance markets of newly emerging economies.
Aiming to be one of the five top reinsurers in the world by 2020, Korean Re intends to steadily broaden its insurance business opportunities in Asia and beyond. In particular, Korean Re CEO Park has noted that the company is moving to acquire equity stakes in local insurers in countries with growth potential in an effort to diversify its business portfolio. Park said Korean Re plans to sharply increase the share of its overseas business.
With the upgrade of Korean Re's credit rating to A- by S&P in late 2006, he stated that the company's overseas business focus will shift from Asia to the Middle East, Eastern Europe and South America, during the initial phase. Then, under the second phase, the emphasis will be placed on Europe and the Americas. "Korean Re intends to go from a regional to a truly global reinsurer," Park stressed. nw