Chairman Kim Chul-ju of the Korea Life Insurance Association (KLIA), who recently began his three-year term, said the life insurance industry is in a serious crisis.
He suggested ways of overcoming the crisis and making a leap forward: ramping up the competitiveness of the industry’s main businesses and its social safety network, and diversifying income foundations through new market entry.
KLIA said on Dec. 11 that Chairman Kim took office as the 36th chairman of the association at KLIA headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul.
In his inauguration speech, Chairman Kim said, “Management conditions have been getting worse in the wake of the macroeconomic environment, such as low growth and high price modes and radical demographic structure changes, caused by a low birth rate and an aging population, and the industry is a serious situation with stagnation, caused by the saturation of the life insurance market and emergence of new players, such as big tech and fintech companies.”
Chairman Kim spoke of three core tasks - stepping up the competitiveness of the industry’s mainstay businesses, diversifying income foundations, and raising customer trust and expanding social responsibility.
In order to strengthen the competitiveness of the industry’s mainstay businesses, Chairman Kim said the life industry will support digital innovation of insurances using new technologies, such as AI and big data, and invigorate private funds corresponding to demographic changes.
Students experience an insurance payout process via augmented reality at KLIA’s digital experience hall on Nov. 13. (Photos: KLIA)
He disclosed his determination to step up the life insurance industry’s role as a social safety network, such as health care services and offer full support to life insurers’ overseas market entry so they can create new opportunities on the global stage beyond the domestic insurance market
“The life insurance industry badly needs to reinvent fundamentals and mold and work out new strategies to cope with rapid demographic structure changes and digital transformation, and the industry will address perception and need changes by supporting the development of diverse new products designed to meet segmented customer needs corresponding to new customer brackets, such as MZ generations,” he said.
Chairman Kim said he will devote himself to solving pending issues based on the experience he accumulated as a bureaucrat and in an international organization, in addition to his rich expertise in the financial sector.
He called for people in the life insurance industry to do their part through endless efforts and challenging to translate the crisis into resurgence opportunities.
In order to raise customer trust and expand social responsibility, Chairman Kim cited Chinese ancient idioms, such as “mushinbullip” and “ishinwibon.”
“Anyone cannot stand up without trust, and trust needs to be considered as a fundamental,” he said. “Contracts of life insurance products, intangible ones, have been maintained between companies and customers for a few years to lifetime, the life insurance industry will have to attach more priority on customer trust than any other industry,” he said.
The new KLIA Chairman Kim’s term is three years, from Dec. 9 until Dec. 8, 2026.
Kim began his career after passing the 29th higher administrative examination.
He held positions, such as director-general in economic policy and deputy minister in planning coordination, all at the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF).
He also served as presidential secretary for economy and finance, vice head of ADB Institute (ADBI, and a member of the Creditors’ Coordination Committee.
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