IBK Industrial Bank CEO Blocked From Office as Union Presses Pay Dispute

Jang Min Young, CEO of IBK Industrial Bank of Korea, faces union members outside the bank’s headquarters in Seoul on Monday. [Photo by Kwon Ga Rim]

Jang Min Young, CEO of IBK Industrial Bank of Korea, has been unable to enter his office for 19 days since his appointment because of union opposition. Blocking a new CEO’s first days at work has repeatedly occurred at the state-run bank, but this time the union says it will keep Jang out until he brings back a solution with financial regulators over overtime pay. The standoff has raised concerns in the financial sector that a leadership vacuum could drag on.

Jang arrived at the bank’s headquarters in Seoul’s Euljiro area at about 8:35 a.m. Monday but turned back after a five-minute confrontation with union members who blocked the entrance.

Union members shouted, “Don’t come back until you bring an answer on an exception to the total wage cap.” The union argues that the wage-cap system has replaced overtime pay with compensatory leave, but limits on actually using that leave amount to unpaid wages. The bank has been discussing with the Financial Services Commission a plan to pay 78 billion won in unpaid overtime in long-term installments, but the union opposed it, saying, “Why take dividends all at once while splitting up compensation for employees’ overtime?”

Jang said the wage-cap issue “is something the president ordered, and I, too, am someone appointed by the president,” adding, “I will communicate and resolve it quickly, so I ask you to wait.”

As he left, Jang told reporters he has repeatedly urged the commission to allow an exception “considering IBK’s special circumstances,” and that “a broad consensus is forming.” He said the blockade is disrupting normal operations and asked the union to allow him to work while negotiating with the government.

A banner criticizing IBK CEO Jang Min Young hangs at the bank’s headquarters in central Seoul. [Photo by Kwon Ga Rim]

The union’s efforts to block a new CEO are not new. Citing weaker benefits than commercial banks and what it calls “parachute” appointments, past CEOs have followed a familiar pattern: appointment, union opposition and then a compromise.

Yoon Jong Won entered the headquarters office 27 days after taking the job in 2020, after promising the union greater transparency in selecting executives, a resumption of voluntary retirement programs and more flexible leave periods. In 2022, when Jung Eun Bo, then head of the Financial Supervisory Service, was floated as a CEO candidate, the union launched a blockade campaign, calling it a parachute appointment. After that backlash, Kim Sung Tae, an internal candidate, was ultimately selected. Similar protests also occurred when outside candidates such as Kim Jong Chang and Yoon Yong Ro were chosen.

If no agreement is reached by this week, before the Lunar New Year holiday, Jang is expected to set a record for the longest period a CEO has been blocked from work. A financial industry official said IBK’s role has become especially important under the current government in areas such as balanced regional development and advanced strategic industries, and that decisions such as large-scale fund investments cannot be made unilaterally by working-level staff, making Jang’s return to normal management urgent.

* This article has been translated by AI.

Galim Kwon hidden@ajunews.com