Ladies and gentlemen!

The sweltering heat has let up, and a cool wind blowing in the morning and evening 

like time is the healer of all. It is both my pleasure and honor to give an opening 

address at the 5th Busan Global Finance Forum in my hometown in such wonderful 

season. 

Allow me to express my heartfelt thanks to Busan Mayor Oh Geo-don, BNK 

Financial Group Chairman Kim Ji-wan, Korea Exchange (KRX) Chairman Jung 

Ji-won, KAMCO President Moon Chang-yong, Seun Steel Chairman Shin Jung-taek, 

and Busan BCCI Senior Vice President Lee Nam-guy for gracing this forum with 

their presence. 

I am also grateful to the Assistant Deputy Governor of the Financial Supervisory 

Service for coming down from Seoul and to Professor Robert Webb of the 

University of Virginia who came from the USA. 

Distinguished guests! 

As the only economic daily in Busan, Busan Financial News (BFN) has been 

hosting the Busan Global Forum by inviting prominent domestic and international 

scholars each year since 2014. The forum marks its fifth year this year. Special 

thanks go to the co-hosts, Busan Metropolitan City and BNK Financial Group. This 

year’s forum carries special meaning, because the Graduate School of Finance at 

Pusan National University and Graduate School of Maritime Finance at Korea 

Maritime and Ocean University will be participating.  

The theme of this year’s forum is “Envisioning the future of ‘Financial City Busan’”. 

As you know, the status of Busan as a financial hub is not yet perfect. Although 

KRX has its head office in Busan,  and a high-rise BIFC is located in the financial 

complex here in Busan, Busan has yet to become a financial hub by itself. The 

domestic and international environment surrounding the financial derivatives and 

maritime finance seems to be anything but favorable. 

Fortunately, the Mun Jae-in government has been aggressively implementing the 

strategy of nurturing Busan as a financial hub since its inauguration. Launched in 

July, Korea Ocean Business Corporation is responsible for rebuilding Korea’s 

shipping industry. Besides, newly elected Mayor Oh is pulling out all the stops for 

Busan’s financial industry development. 

Despite a short history of six years, BFN takes pride in contributing to community 

development through diverse events such as the Term Paper Contest (paper 

contest of collegians), the FN High School Baseball Championship, the Global 

Busan Tourism Forum, and operation of the CORE MBA Program. BFN vows to 

lead the way for Busan be a top-class financial city in Korea and in the world. 

I wish you all the best. 

Thank you.

Jeon, Jae Ho

President & CEO,

The Financial News