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The Korea Herald
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THE INVESTOR
March 29, 2024

Finance

Kofia chief apologizes for vulgar language, refuses to step down

  • PUBLISHED :October 30, 2019 - 16:52
  • UPDATED :October 30, 2019 - 17:03
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Kwon Yong-won, chairman of the Korea Financial Investment Association, apologized on Oct. 30 for the recent revelation about his use of vulgar language and vowed not to repeat it.

“I apologize for the inappropriate use of language,” Kwon said at a press conference, calling the incident “an irrevocable mistake.”

Kofia Chairman Kwon Yong-won
Yonhap

The 58-year-old, however, added he had decided to remain in the top post of the association -- comprising South Korea’s securities brokerage houses and asset management firms -- until his tenure that terminates February 2021.

The decision was made during a board meeting of Korean financial investment sector’s self-regulatory body earlier in the morning, which Kwon said largely opposed to his offer to resign.

“Concerns were raised about the leadership void during the board meeting when I step down from the top post,” he said. “After contemplation, I made my decision to continue in my job as the Kofia chairman.”

This came two weeks after a media report Oct. 18 spilled the beans on Kwon’s use of violent language when treating his ex-chauffeur and a subordinate, under the apparent influence of alcohol. The voice recording leaked in the report also indicated that Kwon breached the promise of workweek for the ex-private driver.

A labor union representing Kofia employees is discussing the counterplan. It earlier last week vowed to take legal actions against Kwon should he refuse to step down and called on the Labor Ministry to carry out a probe for any workplace harassment.

To prevent such incident from repeating, Kwon pledged to come up with measures for harrassment prevention for Kofia employees by the end of this year.

An ex-career government official who also formerly headed financial institutions including Kiwoom Securities, Kwon was elected as the fourth chairman of Kofia in January 2018 to serve a three-year term.

By Son Ji-hyoung (consnow@heraldcorp.com)

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