Speakers >> Biography

Choongsoo Kim is the 24th Governor of the Bank of Korea and the Chairman of its Monetary Policy Committee. He took office on April 1, 2010, for a full term to end after four years.

Born in June 1947, Governor Kim received a B.A. in economics from Seoul National University in 1973 and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1979.

Prior to his appointment as governor of the central bank, Governor Kim held various positions in both public service and academia. From September 2008 to March 2010 he worked in Paris as the Korean Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the OECD. Before being chosen ambassador, he served as Senior Secretary to the President for Economic Affairs in the Office of the President of Korea.

Governor Kim has held many other posts as well, including President of Hallym University (2007-2008), President of the Korea Development Institute (2002-2005), Dean of the Graduate School for International Studies, Kyung Hee University (1998-2002), and President of the Korea Institute of Public Finance (1997-1998). He also served as Assistant Minister and Special Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister in the Ministry of Finance and Economy, and as Minister and Head of the OECD Office in the Korean Embassy in Paris (1995-1997), in charge of negotiations on the Republic of Korea’s accession to the OECD. In 1993 he was Secretary to the President for Economic Affairs in the Office of the President.

Earlier in his career, Governor Kim worked as a senior economist in the Korea Development Institute for ten years (1983-1993), where his research areas included macroeconomic policy management, manpower and social welfare policy. He began his career as a senior research associate of the Center for Human Resource Research at the Ohio State University in 1979.

Governor Kim is married to Juhea Hwang, and they have a daughter, Nahyung.