Korea was one of the first of the developed economies to register a rapid growth rate following the global economic downturn. Both domestic demand and exports fueled Korea’s early recovery, which is expected to continue at a robust level.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

 About the Speaker
Choongsoo Kim took office as Governor of the Bank of Korea on April 1, 2010, beginning a term of four years. At that time, Dr. Kim also began a concurrent term as Chairman of the Monetary Policy Committee, the Bank’s principal monetary policy-making body.

Prior to his appointment as Governor, Dr. Kim was Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to the OECD from September 2008 to March 2010.

Based upon his profound knowledge of macroeconomics and public policy, Dr. Kim had previously served in various other positions in the fields of public service, academia, and public research.

In public service, Dr. Kim served as Secretary (from April 1993 to January 1995) and Senior Secretary (from February 2008 to June 2008) to the President for Economic Affairs, at the Office of the President, the Republic of Korea.

In the academic field, Dr. Kim was Dean of Kyung Hee University from April 1998 to December 2000, and President of Hallym University in 2007.

At public research institutions, Dr. Kim was President of the Korea Institute of Public Finance (1997-1998) and President of the Korea Development Institute (KDI) (2002-2005).

Dr. Kim has also published numerous articles and research papers on various economic issues, with especial focus on macroeconomic policies, employment issues, and pension systems.

Dr. Kim was born in June, 1947, in Seoul, Korea. He received a B.A in economics in 1973 from Seoul National University and a Ph.D in economics in 1979 from the University of Pennsylvania.