President Lee Praises Kwon Dae-young, Appointed as Vice Chairman of Financial Services Commission.. Has the Organizational Restructuring Changed?

[Financial News] As Kwon Dae-young, Secretary General of the Financial Services Commission, rises to the position of Vice Chairman, expectations for the retention of the Financial Services Commission are growing. 
Previously, the National Planning Committee was known to have decided to dismantle the Financial Services Commission and establish a new Financial Supervisory Commission, and was in final coordination with the Presidential Office. However, in a situation where caution about dismantling the Financial Services Commission is repeatedly raised, there is an interpretation that this appointment is a 'green light' for the retention of the Financial Services Commission.
The Presidential Office appointed Secretary General Kwon as Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Commission on the 20th. Vice Chairman Kwon has served as Director of Financial Policy, Director of Financial Industry, and Director of Financial Policy at the Financial Services Commission, as well as a standing committee member and secretary general. He is evaluated as a person with expertise in both macroeconomics and financial policy. In particular, since the end of 2022, he has played the role of 'countermeasure leader' whenever crises such as the Legoland incident, the Saemaul Geumgo bank run, and the Taeyoung Construction workout crisis in real estate project financing (PF) arose.
Recently, he led the '6.27 Real Estate Measures' which included banning housing mortgage loans over 600 million won in the metropolitan area to prevent a surge in household debt. President Lee Jae-myung publicly praised Director Kwon during a town hall meeting in Daejeon on the 4th of this month, saying, "He is the person who created the real estate loan restriction measures," and "Well done." The Lee Jae-myung administration also prepared the 'Long-term Delinquent Debt Adjustment Program' to write off or adjust debts under 50 million won for more than 7 years, which was a campaign pledge.
With this appointment, the expectation that the vacancy of the Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, which had been vacant for two months, will be filled and the possibility of retaining the Financial Services Commission has increased. Although the National Planning Committee reported a draft of the financial supervisory organizational restructuring plan to dismantle the Financial Services Commission and establish the Financial Supervisory Commission earlier this month, voices opposing the dismantling of the Financial Services Commission are emerging within the Presidential Office, prolonging the consultation. 
In the financial sector, concerns are raised that "policy and supervision are closely related, and separating them may result in more harm than good." A financial sector official pointed out, "To achieve the new government's core national goal of 'potential growth rate of 3%', the role of finance is very important as there are limits to government finances," and "The ongoing organizational restructuring may conflict with achieving this goal efficiently." Another financial sector official said, "Issues like debt adjustment may also become ambiguous under the current direction of organizational restructuring regarding which department is in charge."
Amidst this, the Financial Services Commission is demonstrating its presence by promptly executing President Lee's orders. When President Lee instructed during the Daejeon town hall meeting to "listen directly to the voices of small business owners and reflect them in policy," the Financial Services Commission held a field meeting with small business owners within four days and proposed a plan to reduce the public information sharing period for diligent repayment borrowers from five years to one year. Additionally, at the second field meeting with small business owners on the 17th, they announced plans to review △new funding supply measures △interest rate reduction three-piece set △provision of commercial district, industry, and financial analysis information. 
sjmary@fnnews.com Seo Hye-jin Reporter