Kwon Dae-young named first vice minister of finance, praised by President Lee

Kwon Dae-young, appointed Thursday as first vice minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, is a career economic official who built his policy expertise and crisis-management credentials across key financial regulatory posts.

Born in 1968 in Jinhae, South Gyeongsang Province, Kwon graduated from Korea University with a degree in business administration and entered public service through the 38th administrative licensing exam. He served in the foreign exchange, securities regulation and financial policy divisions of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and after the Financial Services Commission was established, he went on to head its asset management, small financial institutions and banking divisions.

Kwon later took on the FSC's core policy roles, serving as head of the financial policy division and then director general of the financial policy bureau, overseeing the full range of financial policy. He subsequently served as a standing commissioner and secretary general before being named the inaugural vice chairman of the FSC under the Lee Jae Myung administration last year.

Kwon played a central role in designing the current government's real estate finance policy and crafting its household debt management measures. He spearheaded the "June 27 household debt package" last year, which capped mortgage loans at 600 million won ($443,000), earning him public praise from President Lee Jae Myung.

At a town hall meeting in the Chungcheong region last July, President Lee singled out Kwon — then the FSC's secretary general — as "the person who created the real estate loan restrictions," adding, "He did a great job."

More recently, Kwon worked to expand project financing support for the real estate sector to underpin housing supply. He also drove key government financial initiatives, including capital market revitalization, productive finance and inclusive finance, while contributing to structural improvements in financial markets.

Kwon also brings hands-on experience managing successive bouts of financial market instability. He helped devise market-stabilization measures each time a liquidity crisis erupted — from the Legoland incident in late 2022, to the large-scale deposit withdrawals at saemaul credit unions in 2023, to the Taeyoung Engineering & Construction workout. Within the FSC, he is regarded as a figure with strong drive and firm command of the organization.

The presidential office said Kwon was the right person for the role, describing him as "an economic and financial expert who boldly deploys a wide range of policy tools to manage the full spectrum of economic challenges — including growth, inflation and employment — with steady hands, while continuously identifying new drivers of future growth."

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Born 1968 (age 58); Korea University, business administration; 38th administrative licensing exam; Ministry of Economy and Finance — foreign exchange division, securities regulation division, financial policy division; FSC — head of asset management division, head of small financial institutions division, head of banking division, head of financial policy division; FSC director of financial innovation planning; FSC director general of financial industry bureau; FSC director general of financial policy bureau; FSC standing commissioner; FSC vice chairman