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Last updated:
August 18, 2011
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Alumni and Friends: La Follette Notes Spring 2009
Alum fills S. Korea’s finance post
Since becoming head of South Korea’s Ministry of Strategy and Finance in February, Yoon Jeung-hyun has been busy. The 1986 graduate of the Center for Development oversees the direction and coordination of major economic policies, creation of fiscal policies, formulation of the budget and management of the treasury, in addition to playing a major role in international finance and international economic cooperation.
Yoon Jeung-hyun
The global economic crisis creates problems for South Korea, and Yoon starts his job when South Korea’s economy is contracting. In his inaugural address, Yoon noted that governments around the world have taken swift action to counter the global economic downturn and strengthen international coordination. “Despite such global efforts, uncertainties in the global financial markets have continued to exist, and the global economic downturn is likely to persist for a long period of time,” Yoon said.
Yoon joined what was then the Ministry of Finance in 1971. During the 1990s, he led initiatives to improve the transparency of financial transactions, to formulate the government plan for capital market liberalization and to carry out tax reform efforts. He oversaw the major government policies on banking, insurance, securities and foreign currency regimes. From 1999 to 2004, he served as executive director at the Asian Development Bank, then became chair of the Financial Services Commission, South Korea’s leading financial regulator. He was senior advisor to South Korean law firm Kim & Chang and served on the president’s economic transition committee.