Rep. Youn Kwan-suk of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea is a three-term lawmaker and the chairman of the National Policy Committee at the National Assembly. As the committee chairman, he leads parliamentary discussions on the nation’s challenging issues, ranging from COVID-19 outbreak and the subsequent economic crises, to technological innovation in the financial industry and stabilization of people’s livelihoods. Youn was first elected to the National Assembly in 2012, and expanded his political career by serving as the party’s floor spokesperson and deputy floor leader. He was President Moon Jae-in’s public relations chief during his presidential election in 2017. In the 20th National Assembly, he was a member of the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, the ruling party’s supreme council and senior deputy chairman of policy planning committee of the party.

Kim Kun-ik joined the Financial Supervisory Committee (the former body of the Financial Services Committee) in 2004 and has worked in various departments such as market research and planning, gaining insight as financial market supervisor. His previous position before joining the FSS this year was the commissioner of the Financial Intelligence Unit, a FSC-affiliated body aimed at preventing money laundering and illicit outflow of foreign capital.

Maria Castillo Fernandez currently serves as the European Union’s ambassador and the head of delegation to South Korea, whose role is to promote the EU’s major interest and manage overall relations between the two sides. Previously, she had worked for the European External Action Service of the EU as head of division for India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh between 2012 and 2016 and then represented the EU in Malaysia until she was dispatched to South Korea earlier this year. Her ties with the country date back to 2000, when she worked as desk officer for the Korean Peninsula at the European Commission. In 2005, she also held key positions, including deputy head of mission, EU delegation to both Republic of Korea and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. After graduating in law from University of Autonoma de Madrid in Spain, she achieved two master’s degrees in European law, economics and international relations at the University of Strasbourg, France and the College of Europe, Bruges, Belgium.

FSC Vice Chairman Sohn Byung-doo is a financial expert and public official who built his career of 30 years at various offices in charge of the nation’s fiscal policies. After passing the civil service examination in 1989, Sohn served in posts at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae and joined the FSC in 2013. As the head of FSC’s public fund control unit, Sohn has been credited for his role in the privatization of Woori Financial Group, in the same year he joined the financial regulator. Before he was appointed as the vice chair of the FSC in 2019, he served as director general of financial services unit and policy planning unit. As a graduate of Seoul National University, Sohn received an MA and a Ph.D. from Brown University in the US.

Soh Hoon Sahib is the Special Representative and Country Manager of the World Bank Group Korea office. The WBG Korea office encompasses the World Bank, International Finance Corporation and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency. Soh’s priorities are to oversee the expansion of the Korea office and strengthen the partnership between the World Bank, the Korean public and private stakeholders, in order to leverage and disseminate Korea’s development experience. The office expansion will result in a work program covering energy, environment, urban development, fragile and conflict states, financial sector, and knowledge management. Soh joined the World Bank in 2000 as a Young Professional after receiving a Ph.D. in economics from Stanford University in 1996. In the World Bank, he has worked in regional departments (Latin America, Africa and East Asia and the Pacific) as an economist, and in the corporate policy department. Prior to the Korea office, Soh was at the World Bank’s Beijing office, as the Program Leader responsible for supervising the economic policy related work on China and Mongolia. Before joining the World Bank, he worked in Korea at the Posco Research Center and the Arthur D. Little consulting firm.

Lee Hyoung-joo is director general of Financial Innovation Bureau at the FSC, in charge of promoting policy works on technological innovation of the financial industry and drafting legal frame for the emerging market of fintech. Lee built his public service career by serving various posts at the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae. He also played a leading role in the Finance Ministry’s coordination team for the G-20 Summit in Korea in 2010, and was dispatched to the Asian Development Bank. At the FSC, he led the regulator’s microfinance division, industrial finance division, capital markets division and financial policy division. He was appointed as the head of financial innovation bureau in August, this year. Lee received a BA in management from Seoul National University and passed the civil service examination in 1995.

Jeong Young-sik is a senior research fellow at the International Macroeconomics and Finance Department and was the director general of the New Southern Policy Department at KIEP. His research interests focus in the regional studies on the economies of Southeast Asia and India/South Asia, financial cooperation, financial stability and development in emerging countries and financial safety nets. As an expert to Asian financial market, Jeong was invited as a main speaker to the Asian Development Bank’s annual meeting, previously planned in Songdo, Incheon in September. His recent major research papers include “Determinants of Korean Outward Foreign Direct Investment” (with Hanbyul Ryu, 2020), “Global Value Chain Analysis in the New Southern Region, Korea’s Trade Expansion and Upgrading Strategy” (with Jeong Gon Kim et al., 2019), which was recognized as one of the best research papers of the year by the National Research Council and KIEP. He has also held several positions such as director of the Korean International Finance Association and advisory member of the Bank of Korea and Korea Financial Supervisory Service. Jeong holds a Ph.D. in Finance from Sogang University in Korea and served as a visiting scholar at the University of California, Riverside.