Rhee Chang-yong

In this Korean name, the family name is Rhee.

Rhee Chang-yong (Korean: 이창용; Hanja: 李昌鏞; born 16 May 1960) is a South Korean economist currently serving as the 26th governor of the Bank of Korea since April 2022.^[1]

Rhee Chang-yong
이창용
Rhee in 2015
26th Governor of the Bank of Korea
Incumbent
Assumed office 21 April 2022
Appointed by	Moon Jae-in
Preceded by	Lee Ju-yeol
Director of Asia and Pacific Department at the IMF
In office 10 February 2014 – 23 March 2022
Appointed by	Christine Lagarde
Preceded by	Anoop Singh
Succeeded by	Krishna Srinivasan
Chief Economist of the Asian Development Bank
In office March 2011 – February 2014
Preceded by	Jong-Wha Lee
Succeeded by	Shang-Jin Wei
Vice Chairman of Financial Services Commission
In office 15 March 2008 – 9 November 2009
President	Lee Myung-bak
Preceded by	post created
Succeeded by	Kwon Hyouk-se
Personal details
Born	(1960-05-16) 16 May 1960 (age 65) Nonsan, South Korea
Alma mater	Seoul National University (BA) Harvard University (PhD)
Academic work
Discipline	Economics
Institutions	Seoul National University University of Rochester

In March 2022 President Moon Jae-in tapped Rhee who had led the Asia and Pacific Department at the International Monetary Fund over 8 years for the country's top monetary policy chief upon recommendations from president-elect Yoon Suk-yeol.^[2][3][4][5] On 19 April, a nomination hearing was held at the National Assembly where his nomination report was adopted and sent to the President.^[6] President Moon appointed Rhee on the following day commencing his four-year term as the Governor^[1] to minimise the first-ever vacancy of the Governor in Bank's history.^[7]

During the nomination hearing, Rhee vowed to utilise the central bank's "unpopular" tool of base rate to address post-pandemic inflation reiterating the organisation's role in price stabilisation.^[6][8]

Prior to moving to the IMF as the first South Korean to join its senior leadership,^[9] Rhee was the chief economist at the Asian Development Bank where he worked as its spokesperson and head of its Economic and Research Department.^[10] Before joining inter-governmental organisations, he first served as an advisor to multiple South Korean government organisations on economic policies from the early 2000s and then joined the transition team of then-president-elect Lee Myung-bak in 2007. Following President Lee's restructuring of government entities, Rhee took the first deputy role of the Financial Services Commission from 2008 to 2009 before joining the Presidential Committee for the 2010 G-20 Seoul Summit as its Secretary-General and Sherpa.

Rhee holds two degrees in economics - a bachelor from Seoul National University and a doctorate from Harvard University.^[4] Rhee completed a doctorate in 1989 at the Harvard University, with Lawrence Summers as his advisor.^[11] After his doctoral studies, he taught at economics departments at University of Rochester and Seoul National University.^[12]

On April 18, 2024, Bank of Korea Governor Lee Chang-yong will attend the G20 Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in Washington, D.C. and the International Monetary Fund-World Bank Group (WBG) Spring Conference. Later, on April 21, the meeting period, he was selected as the winner of the American Foreign Policy Association's medal and will participate in the ceremony.^[13]

Honours

• Order of Civil Merit by the government of South Korea (2011)^[14]