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| Financial Supervisory Service Governor Yoon Suk-heun, center, answers questions from reporters in Seoul on March 30. Yonhap |
By Lee Min-hyung
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) is facing a leadership vacuum as Governor Yoon Suk-heun ends his three-year tenure on Friday.
It remains unclear who will replace Yoon as Cheong Wa Dae is still mulling a possibly large-scale reshuffle of its economic team.
Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki is taking on a dual role as the leader of the Ministry of Economy and Finance and acting prime minister. There is a chance that the presidential office will reshuffle the head of the financial watchdog around the end of this month when Prime Minister nominee Kim Boo-kyum takes office.
As Hong's fate remains up in the air, the FSS governor position will also likely remain vacant for the next few weeks during which time First Senior Deputy Governor Kim Kun-ik will serve as the acting governor of the watchdog.
There are rumors that former First Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom or ex-Financial Services Commission Vice Chairman Chung Eun-bo will lead the FSS for the next one year until the end of the incumbent administration.
Yoon completed his term, which is rare, because only two previous FSS leaders had done so out of a total of 13 former heads of the watchdog.
But starting this year, Yoon faced internal criticism for favoritism. The FSS union criticized Yoon for promoting some officials who faced disciplinary measures for unfair hiring practices.
The FSS also faced public criticism last year for its poor supervision of a nationwide financial scandal surrounding the mis-selling of funds by some financial institutions. Mis-selling refers to the deliberate, reckless or negligent sale of products or services that are unsuited to a customer's needs.
"The previous forecast was that Yoon would extend his term just like Korea Development Bank Chairman Lee Dong-gull whose term extension was decided at the last minute," a financial industry source said. "But the scenario appears not to have become a reality amid fierce opposition from the FSS' labor union."
