[Exclusive] KDB Chairman Park Sang-jin heads to Europe, while employees take to the streets

[Financial News] Korea Development Bank (KDB) Chairman Park Sang-jin has left for a business trip to Europe. He will personally inspect the Frankfurt Branch, which marked its first anniversary, and also visit the London Branch and KDB Ireland, both of which recently completed internal audits. Some KDB employees who are joining the Financial Workers’ Union’s general strike on the 4th, calling for the withdrawal of the plan to relocate state-run banks to the provinces, are voicing frustration, saying, "Is it really right for the chairman to go on an overseas trip when employees are taking to the streets?"
According to the financial industry on the 1st, KDB Chairman Park Sang-jin departed for Frankfurt, Germany, on the 30th of last month. KDB began operations at its Frankfurt Branch on Sept. 1, 2025. Park, who took office in September last year, had considered Frankfurt as his first overseas destination two months later in November, but abruptly canceled the trip. This marks his first visit to Germany in about a year.
KDB re-entered the German financial market last year, 26 years after withdrawing from the country in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis. From Frankfurt, which has emerged as a financial hub in Europe after Brexit, the bank plans to directly raise euro funding and support smooth business operations for Korean companies expanding into Europe.
During the one-week trip through the 5th, Chairman Park will also review the business operations of KDB's London Branch and KDB Ireland. Both the London Branch and KDB Ireland, which underwent a comprehensive audit of overseas offices in June, received cautions for insufficient review of loans with foreign-currency operating funds exceeding a three-year maturity. They were also instructed to improve internal rules following changes to the internal audit system and to strengthen their anti-money laundering and economic sanctions committee operations. The trip is also drawing grumbling from within the bank.
One KDB employee said, "Last Friday, more than 600 employees gathered for a rally, and with the general strike on the 4th approaching as we work to block the bank's relocation to the provinces, is it really appropriate for the chairman to go to Europe to 'review business operations'?"
The debate over relocating state-run banks to regional areas, which had effectively been put on hold after President Lee Jae Myung, then a presidential candidate, expressed opposition to moving KDB to Busan and pledged to relocate the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, has recently flared up again. Labor unions at the Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK), Korea Eximbank, and KDB, all of which have been mentioned as possible targets for regional relocation of public institutions, have launched collective action and made clear their opposition.
On the 18th, KDB's labor union urged Park, saying, "As the head of KDB, you must clearly state your opposition to relocating the headquarters and take direct action to protect the organization and its employees." In a statement issued in the name of the union chairperson, it said, "At a time when KDB's role is more important than ever, the organization and its professional workforce must not be shaken again by the controversy over relocating the headquarters. If your judgment and conviction on your first day in office have not changed, then it is time to prove it through action, not words. We hope you will firmly represent KDB's position to the government."
The union said Park told an internal meeting on his first day in office last September, "Would moving finance to Busan really increase the country's contribution to industrial development? I don't think so. I have also expressed the view that Seoul is the right place."
A KDB official explained, "This trip was a formal schedule planned since last year, regardless of the general strike," adding, "It could no longer be postponed, so we had no choice but to proceed this time." Park is said to have met with KfW Development Bank Chairman Stephan Wintels during the trip.

[email protected] Park Moon-soo Reporter