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By Lee Kyung-min
Shinhan Life Insurance will recommend Korea Insurance Development Institute head Sung Dae-kyu as its new CEO, according to the firm's holding company.
The nomination came after Cheong Mun-kuk, a nominee selected earlier, expressed his wish to remain with his current firm Orange Life, Shinhan Financial Group said Tuesday.
Sung will take office in late March if his appointment is approved at a shareholders' meeting of the group.
Known as an expert in the insurance industry, Sung has 22 years of experience as a Financial Services Commission (FSC) official specializing in a wide range of insurance-related matters.
"Sung is expected to be a great asset for the group which is in need of an expert following a merger between the life insurance subsidiary and Orange Life," a Shinhan Financial Group official said.
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| Sung Dae-kyu |
Meanwhile, Cheong will continue working as the CEO of Orange Life, formerly ING Life Korea, the Korean arm of global financial group ING Group.
The sudden decision came after fierce protest from the Shinhan union who claim Cheong will push ahead with corporate restructuring.
Cheong's appointment had drawn attention as he was set to become the first Shinhan subsidiary CEO who had not served as an executive at the financial group.
"He will continue working as the CEO with us. This is the sixth year of him working as CEO. He will contribute to boosting corporate value in the coming months, a performance highly tenable given his work over the past few years," an Orange Life official said.
"We recorded 310 billion won ($275 million) in net income in 2018, a noted performance bolstered by his clear vision. He is expected to strengthen wealth management and sales channels, while introducing a new product lineup."
In September 2018, Shinhan decided to purchase a 59 percent stake in Orange for 2.3 trillion won in a bid to strengthen its non-banking sector.
