KB Kookmin Bank has recommended Jung Yoon-kyung (정윤경), a professor in Sungkyunkwan University's Department of Software, as a new outside director candidate to strengthen its expertise in artificial intelligence (AI) and digital areas. Jung is expected to be formally appointed after approval at an extraordinary shareholders meeting on July 23.

KB Kookmin Bank said on July 22 it held a meeting of its Outside Director Candidate Recommendation Committee and recommended Jung as the final candidate for a new outside director.

The recommendation followed the resignation of former outside director Moon Soo-bok. The committee, made up of all outside directors, formed a pool of candidates through recommendations from external specialist institutions and others, then selected Jung after five meetings and three rounds of screening and qualification verification.

Jung earned a PhD in computer science from North Carolina State University in the United States. She later worked as a senior researcher at Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology and as a postdoctoral researcher at the IT University of Copenhagen in Denmark, and is now a professor in the Department of Software at Sungkyunkwan University's College of Computing and Informatics. She also serves as a director of the Artificial Intelligence Society of the Korean Institute of Information Scientists and Engineers.

Her main research areas include natural language processing and data analysis, generative AI, responsible AI and interactive storytelling. She is also conducting research that applies AI technology to intelligent content generation, cybersecurity and anomaly detection.

She has also participated in national research projects, including the Ministry of Science and ICT's mid-career researcher support program, as well as industry-academia collaborative research.

Jung is expected to be appointed as an outside director of KB Kookmin Bank after approval at the extraordinary shareholders meeting to be held on July 23. Her term runs until the regular shareholders meeting in March 2028.

KB Kookmin Bank's committee said, "As AI-based services and data analysis capabilities emerge as the bank's core competitiveness, we recommended Professor Jung Yoon-kyung, who has expertise and experience in the field, as a new outside director candidate." It added, "The appointment of a female outside director will also strengthen diversity in the board's composition."