The Korea Society and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) are pleased to present a timely discussion on South Korea’s capital market reforms. South Korea is undertaking its most ambitious capital market reform in years—an agenda to strengthen corporate governance, expand investor protections, and unlock deeper access to global capital. What does this moment mean for international investors, and what will it take to finally close the Korea discount?
Join Namuh Rhee, Chairman of the Korean Corporate Governance Forum and a leading voice behind Korea’s reform movement, for a keynote address, followed by a cross-border conversation with senior representatives from the Bank of Korea and two leading U.S. investment professionals on where the reforms stand, how Korea’s macro landscape is reshaping its appeal, and what global capital needs to see next.
Opening Remarks
Rak-gon Kim, Director General of KOTRA New York
Keynote Speaker
Namuh Rhee, Chairman, Korea Corporate Governance Forum; Visiting Professor, Yonsei University
Panelists
Young Woong Hwang Head, Money Market Team, Bank of Korea
Chiara Salghini Portfolio Manager, Senior Research Analyst, Vontobel
Jae Hyun Yoo Director, International Finance Division, Bank of Korea
A senior executive at a major Wall Street bank’s private investing arm
Moderated by Mark Kim President, Korea Finance Society
Brought together with
About the Speakers
Young Woong Hwang
Head, Money Market Team, The Bank of Korea
Young Woon Hwang joined the Bank of Korea in 2003 and has since worked in the Monetary Policy Department, Financial Markets Department, Research Department, and Financial Stability Department, engaging in monetary policy as well as financial stability–related affairs.
Young Woong graduated with a BA in Economics from Korea University.
Mark Kim
Director at Anchorage Capital Advisors
Mark Kim is a Director at Anchorage Capital Advisors, a credit-oriented investment firm based in New York. At Anchorage, Mark is responsible for corporate credit investing across the capital structure, as well as business development and investor relations for Korea.
Before joining Anchorage, he worked at TPG Sixth Street Partners and started his career in the investment banking division at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in New York.
Mark serves as President of Korea Finance Society and received the Finance Excellence Award from the Korean Ministry of Economy and Finance for his contributions to the organization.
Mark holds a Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics from Columbia University.
Rakgon Kim
Director-General of KOTRA New York
Rakgon Kim is the Director-General of KOTRA New York, appointed in 2025. With nearly 30 years of experience at the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), he is a seasoned expert in global trade, export support, and strategic management.
Mr. Kim has held diverse leadership roles across KOTRA’s international network, previously serving as Director-General in Chicago (2023–2025) and Doha, and as Director in Auckland. At KOTRA headquarters, he led the Export Support and Human Resources Development teams and held multiple strategic positions within the Office of the President. He remains dedicated to strengthening economic ties between Korea and the global market through his extensive expertise in international trade.
Namuh Rhee
Chairman of the Korean Corporate Governance Forum
As Chairman of the Korean Corporate Governance Forum, Namuh Rhee is at the forefront of efforts to elevate corporate governance standards across the country, bringing nearly four decades of experience across Asia’s leading financial institutions. He has held senior leadership roles at Samsung Securities, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Nomura International, spanning Seoul, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Throughout his career he built a distinguished reputation as one of the foremost authorities on Korean equities.
His corporate governance credentials are underpinned by extensive board experience spanning financial services, media, start-up and chaebols, having served as a non-executive board member of BNK Financial Holdings, SBS, Hansol Holdings, Mando China Holdings, Korea Investment Trust, ABLBio, and Citibank Korea. Earlier in his career, he was appointed to the Finance Industry Development Review Committee of Korea’s Ministry of Finance and Economy, one of the government’s most senior advisory bodies. He holds an MBA from the University of Chicago and a BA in Economics from Seoul National University.
Chiara Salghini joined Vontobel in November 2023. She is Deputy Portfolio Manager and Senior Research Analyst within the Quality Growth boutique. In this role, she works as a generalist, focusing on emerging markets and researching investment opportunities with a particular emphasis on Latin America, Asia, and the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East and Africa).
Before joining Vontobel, from 2019 to 2023, she was a research analyst at Stone Forest Capital, where she focused on emerging-market equities. Prior to that, she covered emerging-market and international equities at Federated Hermes. Her previous experience in the finance industry includes working as an investment banker at Barclays in London and New York, and as a credit analyst at Moody’s. She started her career in 2005 at UBS in London as an investment banking analyst in the Mergers & Acquisitions department.
Chiara holds an MBA in Finance from The Wharton School, an MPA in International Economics and Public Policy from Harvard University, as well as degrees from The London School of Economics and Bocconi University.
Jae Hyun Yoo
Director, International Finance Division The Bank of Korea
Jae Hyun Yoo is Director of International Finance Division in The Bank of Korea. He has more than 25 years’ experience of working in a number of different roles associated with FX and financial markets department in the BOK. He has been deeply involved in the establishment and operation of Korea’s foreign exchange policies and regulations. He also served as a policy advisor to a member of the BOK’s Monetary Policy Committee from 2016~2018.
Jae Hyun graduated with a BA in Economics from Seoul National University.
