New President Suh Jong-dae of the Korea Appraisal Board (KAB). 

Former Korea Housing Finance Corp. President Suh Jong-dae took office as the 14th president of the Korea Appraisal Board (KAB) at the KAB headquarters in Daegu on March 3. 

New KAB President Suh has the right stuff to head KAB, industry analysts say. He has held such public positions as the director-general in charge of urban architecture examination, new satellite city planning, and housing at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport before serving as president of Korea Housing Finance Corp. He is a seasoned expert in the housing and real estate sectors and has taught related subjects at Korea University and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology for more than 10 years. 

While delivering his inauguration speech, KAB President Suh called for his executives and staff members to devote themselves to achieving the public entity’s own goal of pursing people’s happiness and the development of the national economy in the way they serve people.

First, Suh said, he will attach top priority to reestablishing KAB’s standing as a public entity specializing in the appraisal of real estate. “Despite the expertise and stature KAB has accumulated for the past 20 years, the board has been downgraded as one of the appraisal companies. The discipline of public appraisal and standard functions have been undermined and public trust over the domestic appraisal industry has plummeted to a point some academicians claim uselessness of specialized appraisals due to unfair and overblown appraisals caused by excessive competition by appraisal companies,” he said.

“Recognizing these woes,” he said, “the government came up with steps to elevate the appraisal market to standards of advanced countries in 2010, calling for strengthening KAB’s public functions. Now is a time for the KAB to be reborn as a public appraisal institution, which can be recognized with public trust in its appraisal expertise all over the world, serving as the last bastion of public appraisal, not simply as an appraisal company.  

“We have to provide unlimited services and put into practice integrity by taking an attitude of serving people as their public servants who carry out public functions, so we should recognize appraisal companies anew as our business partners, not as our competitors,” said the new KAB president, adding that KAB has to hold close consultations with the government and related business circles to flesh out the follow-up measures and formulate the institutional foundation and take complementary steps concerning standard research and infrastructure one after another.

Second, he said, KAB will have to firm up it roles as a public entity by dramatically expanding the availability of diverse information on real estate and providing services to people and companies. 

KAB headquarters in Daegu (photos: courtesy of KAB)

“Houses and land account for large portions of people’s assets, and they are means designed to bring happiness and dreams to people. But people are very thirsty for exact information since their decision-making based on a lack of correct information would cost them huge losses,” he said. “Real estate is a fundamental asset in every industry and it is closely related to financing and even to service industries, and if diverse exact information is provided, it will have huge spillover effects such as the creation of jobs and added values in related industries,” Suh noted.  As a result, he said, KAB will do its utmost to provide all fundamental and additional information related to real estate in the most exact and speedy fashion. 

Third, he said, KAB will devote itself to ensuring innovative and creative management up to people’s expectations by successfully achieving the purposes of its establishment as a public entity. Suh said his board itself will seek out and correct unacceptable practices that cause public inconveniences while at the same time implementing steps to normalize its operation as a public entity as suggested by the government. KAB will have to concentrate on stabilizing its worsening profit structure through constant change and innovation and by expanding its future growth foundation.

Lastly, he said, he will exert his best efforts to make KAB the best worksite worth risking his whole life on the basis of a healthy corporate culture filled with principles, common sense, and rationality.