President Yoon Jong-won of the Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) talks with the head of a small business struggling to cope with the damages, caused by the spread of COVID-19 on March 17.

President Yoon Jong-won of the Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) said, “The collapse of SMEs will have a greater impact on the financial system, and the prevention of worsening a corporate credit crunch is to protect the financial system.” IBK President Yoon made this and other comments at an uncontact reports’ meeting marking his 100 days in office on April 12.

He was replying to a question on worry that expanding loans designed to alleviate economic fallout from the spread of COVID-19 could weigh down the burden of the financial system.

Yoon predicted that the government and the financial sector’s provision of financial support to SMEs and small businesses would not lead to unrest of the financial system, and chances are low that it could spread to a crisis of the financial system thanks to Korea with better financial adequacy than other countries.

As to worry that the IBK with a higher portion of extending loans to SMS is more vulnerable to a crisis at the current situation, President Yoon said IBK will provide financial support to financially strapped SMEs while improving the financial structure of marginalized companies so as to undermine their financial soundness.

President Yoon revised the 2020 management goals set by IBK. The bank said it decided to raise loans extended to SMEs from the previous 49 trillion won to 59 trillion won and expand financial support to small businesses from 1.2 trillion won to 5.8 trillion won.

He hinted at a possibility of readjusting a key performance indicator (KPI), to focus on financial support related to the virus pandemic. KPI is a measurable value that demonstrates how effectively a company is achieving key business objectives.

IBK President Yoon Jong-won presides over a teleconference with officials of the bank’s 21 regional headquarters to discuss management strategies to overcome hardships, caused by the spread of COVID-19. (Photos: IBK)

Yoon stressed principle management as to his unsmooth relationships with the bank’s trade union, saying he would stick to policies of holding negotiations while persuading them.

IBK plans to increase newly hired freshmen employees for the first half of this year by 14 percent, a move to lessen a shortage of jobs for youth, caused by the spread of COVID-19.

Amid the uncertainty surrounding commercial banks’ employing freshmen employees in the first half of the year, he said, IBK plans to run a wanted ad this week to hire 250 freshmen bank employees for the first half of the year. The figure represents an rise of 30 freshmen employees compared to the previous year.

IBK plans to pick an additional 300 youth interns, he said. In May, the bank will add 30 more interns in a screening test targeting the employment of the handicapped.