From left, KB Kookmin Bank CEO Lee Hwan-joo, Shinhan Bank CEO Jung Sang-hyuk, Hana Bank CEO Lee Ho-sung, Woori Bank CEO Jung Jin-wan and NH NongHyup Bank CEO Kang Tae-young take the witness oath on Oct. 19 at the National Assembly Political Affairs Committee’s parliamentary audit of the Financial Supervisory Service and other agencies. It is the first time since 2022 — four years — that the heads of the five major banks have appeared together as witnesses at a parliamentary audit. Photo by Oh Seung-hyunThe chief executives of South Korea’s five largest banks apologized in unison for a hacking breach in the financial sector and pledged to prevent a recurrence, in testimony before the National Assembly.Shinhan Bank CEO Jung Sang-hyuk said on the 19th that he “feels deeply sorry” when questioned about the leak of customer information at a National Policy Committee audit at the National Assembly. KB Kookmin Bank CEO Lee Hwan-joo also said, “I sincerely apologize that this incident occurred at a financial institution that must be built on trust.” He added that the bank would “secure sufficient budget and personnel and, going forward, counter hacking with AI security systems on the premise of artificial intelligence-driven attacks.”Lee Chan-jin, governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, said of the hacking incidents in the financial sector that he believes “this will be the first cybersecurity hacking case in which the question of chief executive accountability is addressed.” On easing rules that require banks to separate internal networks from the internet, he said a full rollback would be “difficult to carry out across the board,” explaining that the sector should “stay faithful to the basics while shifting in phases to AI-based security systems.”Lawmakers also pointed out that after the revised Banking Act took effect, some banks lowered their added lending margins while also cutting preferential interest rate discounts, leaving banks with a larger effective share of the interest. Rep. Min Byoung-dug of the Democratic Party of Korea charged that “cutting preferential rates despite knowing the intent of the Banking Act revision amounts to deceiving consumers.” Lee responded that he “will look into it if that is the case.”
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