▲ This file photo, provided by the Bank of Korea, shows Shin Hyun-song, an official of the Bank for International Settlements, speaking during a press briefing in Seoul on Nov. 16, 2023. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

(profile) BOK-new chief

(profile) BOK chief nominee known for expertise in int'l finance, macroeconomics with practical insight

SEOUL, March 22 (Yonhap) -- Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. nominee Shin Hyun-song is a leading expert in macroeconomics and international finance, with extensive experience in academia and international organizations, as well as strong practical expertise.

Shin, who currently serves as the head of the monetary and economic department at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), was nominated to head South Korea's central bank, replacing incumbent Gov. Rhee Chang-yong at the end of his four-year term next month, according to Cheong Wa Dae.

Born in 1959, Shin studied politics, philosophy and economics at the University of Oxford, where he also earned his master's and doctoral degrees in economics.

He later taught economics at Oxford University and the London School of Economics (LSE), before serving as a professor of economics at Princeton University.

The nominee served as a resident scholar at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2005 and as a member of the financial advisory council at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in 2006. In 2010, under the Lee Myung-bak administration, he was appointed senior economic adviser for international affairs at the presidential office.

In 2014, Shin was appointed economic adviser and head of research at the BIS, becoming the first non-American or non-European scholar to hold the position. He then served as head of the BIS' monetary and economic department since 2025.

The nominee is widely recognized as a leading expert in financial stability and macroprudential policy. He gained particular prominence for accurately anticipating the 2008 global financial crisis at the IMF annual meetings in September 2006.

The presidential office described him as "the right person to simultaneously achieve the monetary policy goals of price stability and economic growth" amid heightened uncertainties at home and abroad.

The crisis in the Middle East stemming from the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran has deepened concerns about stagflation in which high inflation and stagnant economic growth occur simultaneously.

The nominee also faces the difficult task of safeguarding financial stability amid a weak local currency and an unstable housing market, while supporting growth momentum.

The BOK kept the benchmark interest rate steady at 2.5 percent at its latest rate-setting meeting late last month, marking the sixth consecutive on-hold decision.

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