South Korea’s sole market operator, the Korea Exchange, announced Tuesday that Jung Ji-won, chief executive officer of Korea Securities Finance Corp., will take the helm of the firm starting Thursday.

The KRX also announced Won Jong-seok, chief executive officer and director of Shinyoung Securities, will become a non-executive director starting Thursday.

Jung and Won will serve for three years.

The KRX experienced a monthlong leadership vacuum, after former chairman Jeong Chan-woo left the KRX on Sept. 18, less than a year after he started his term. 

Jung, 56, grew up in Busan and was a career bureaucrat for three decades. Before serving his terms for two years in Korea’s only financing institution for securities firms since December 2015, Jung worked at the Finance Ministry and the Financial Services Commission, among others.

The KRX operates various markets, including stock markets Kospi and Kosdaq, as well as other markets that trade bonds, derivatives and commodities such as oil and gold.

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