KB金融集团将下任董事长候选缩至三人，现任杨钟熙续任概率上升

KB Financial Group has narrowed its list of candidates for the group's next chairman to three: incumbent Chairman Yang Jong-hee, Lee Jae-keun, head of the group's global, wealth management and SME division, and Kwon Kwang-seok, former head of Woori Bank.
The group's chairman nominating committee said on the 27th that it had cut the shortlist to three after conducting first-round interviews and evaluations of six candidates.
The initial pool of six included four internal candidates — Yang, division heads Lee Jae-keun and Lee Chang-kwon, and KB Kookmin Bank President Lee Hwan-ju — along with Kwon and one external candidate who requested anonymity.
Yang took office on Nov. 21, 2023, and is seeking his first reappointment. Financial industry observers say Yang has secured the management record needed for a second term, maintaining steady earnings growth during his tenure while sharply expanding shareholder returns. KB Financial Group topped 5 trillion won in annual net profit for the first time in 2024, then posted a record 5.843 trillion won ($4.2 billion) in net profit last year.
The earnings improvement has continued this year. Cumulative net profit for the first half came to 3.8846 trillion won ($2.8 billion), up 13.1% from a year earlier and a record for any first half.
Expanded shareholder returns are also cited as a key achievement for Yang. KB Financial Group expects total shareholder returns to reach about 3.7 trillion won ($2.7 billion) this year. Brokerages have projected a total shareholder return ratio of 54% to 57% for the year. The ratio reached 52.4% last year, the highest among domestic financial holding companies.
Regulatory discussions on improving governance at financial firms, once seen as a variable in the chairman's reappointment, are also expected to have limited impact on this selection. Financial authorities have been reviewing governance measures including limits on long-term reappointments of financial holding company chairmen, stricter voting procedures for reappointments and stronger board independence, but have yet to release a final plan. The market view is that Yang's prospects are relatively strong, given that this would be his first reappointment and that the selection process is already well advanced.
The nominating committee plans to conduct second-round in-depth interviews with the three candidates on the 11th of next month and select a single final nominee by vote. The final nominee will go through recommendation procedures by the committee and the board on Oct. 2 before being appointed chairman at an extraordinary shareholders meeting in November. Yang's current term runs through Nov. 20.