Chairman Han Dong-woo is certain to have his second term as the chairman of Shinhan Financial Group (SFG) with the Chairman Candidate Recommendation Committee announcing their selection of the current chairman to continue as chairman on Dec. 11, the group said Dec. 12.

Chairman Kim Ki-young of the committee made the announcement after the committee finished the interview with the final candidate, Vice Chairman Hong Seong-kyun of Shinhan Card on Dec. 11.

Former Vice Chairman Lee Dong-gul of Shinhan Investment Co., one of the leading candidates, dropped out of the competition after charging that the selection process of the chairman was unfair. The withdrawal left only two candidates, Han and Hong. 

Chairman Kim said Han was chosen for continuity of the group’s management and because he has a profound knowledge of the financial group in explaining the reasons for Han’s selection by the recommendation committee.

The board of directors of the financial group met on Dec. 12 and approved the committee’s recommendation, naming Han to be the next chairman of the financial group.

The board will meet again in February next year and officially approve the legal registration of Han as the chairman of the financial group ahead of the shareholders’ meeting in March.

Some said Han’s excessive focus on internal matters of management could be a weak point on his part, but Han insisted during his interview that an emphasis should be on internal fundamentals to be maintained and controlled rather than outside networking. Kim also said there is no reason to change the current recommendation committee’s way of conducting its business, despite the charges of unfairness by some candidates.

Han wants to uphold “a new beginning and different thoughts” as the slogan for his next term to cope with various situations that may occur from such socio-economic trends as low growth and an aging society that require changes in the bank’s management policies.

The slogan may be designed to draw a clear line with what happened in the bank’s operation three years ago. The incident split the bank’s organization, raising conflicts among groups, and the new management should clearly draw the line with the incident through new leadership.

Han went on record as saying that the bank has to stick with principles when the management environment gets tougher. He said he will focus on banking activities, which are the given job to the bank, and cope positively with various management changes such as an aging society. “At least for the next three years, I will try to further upgrade ‘warm financing’ and escalate its level,” he said.

Financial sources say Shinhan Bank’s future would not be rosy all the time. The bank has to decide how serious it should be on a public bid for Kwangju Bank, an affiliate of Woori Financial Group (WFG) that is being privatized. Han has to decide whether the bank should really go for the regional bank as the government wants it to. The financial authorities want Shinhan Bank to play a certain role in the privatization of WFG.

Also drawing Han’s attention is that the court will soon rule on the Shinhan incident on Dec. 26 and it is his job to decide on the bank’s reaction depending on the outcome.

Han will have to deal with various dissonant voices surrounding his selection as the next chairman of SFG, the financial sources said.