Lee Approves Shin Hyun-song Appointment as Bank of Korea Governor

President Lee Jae-myung approved the appointment of Shin Hyun-song as governor of the Bank of Korea on April 20, senior presidential spokesperson Kang Yoo-jung said, after lawmakers from the ruling and opposition parties adopted his confirmation hearing report by agreement.

Shin will take office on April 21 and begin a four-year term. He assumes the post as economic uncertainty at home and abroad mounts, including geopolitical risks tied to the Middle East. He faces the task of containing pressure from high inflation and a weak won while also addressing concerns about an economic slowdown.

Shin is regarded as bringing both academic credentials and policy experience from international financial institutions and academia. Born in Daegu in 1959, he attended Emanuel School in the U.K. and studied philosophy, politics and economics at the University of Oxford. He later earned master's and doctoral degrees in economics from Oxford.

He has built a long career in international finance research and policymaking. As head of the Monetary and Economic Department at the Bank for International Settlements, Shin led research on global financial stability and monetary policy. He previously served as a professor of economics at Princeton University, a visiting scholar at the International Monetary Fund, a member of the New York Federal Reserve's Financial Advisory Roundtable, and international economic adviser at South Korea's presidential office.

Shin is classified in the market as a pragmatic hawk, having backed preemptive interest-rate increases to respond to inflation.

Park Sang-kyung, Hankyung.com reporter, highseoul@hankyung.com