The Korea Credit Union Federation said on Tuesday that Ko Young-cheol, chairman of the Gwangju Culture Credit Union, was elected as its 34th chairman.
Ko won 301 votes, or 38.4 percent, out of 784 ballots cast by credit union chairmen nationwide.
He graduated from the Department of Accounting at Chosun University and served as working-level manager, full-time director and chairman at the Gwangju Culture Credit Union. He has served as a director of the federation since 2022.
His key pledges include restoring soundness, strengthening internal controls and identifying future growth drivers.
He also pledged to strengthen internal controls by easing the burden of new loan-loss provisions for financially weak credit unions through a matching provision fund, converting into an asset management company to strengthen long-term management of non-performing loans (NPL), and revitalising the touring supervision system.
Ko will lead the federation from March, succeeding incumbent chairman Kim Yoon-sik.
Ko said, "I will do my utmost to help credit unions restore trust by putting the focus back on the field and members, while strengthening both soundness and the foundation for growth."
Lee Ji-young
ljy@d-today.co.kr