Multi-homeowner with properties like Gangnam apartments and downtown officetels
Bank of Korea: “Putting domestic officetel on sale… planning to liquidate U.S. apartment too”
President Lee: “Outstanding insight into domestic and international finance and economics, exceptional international sensibility”
Shin Hyun-song, the candidate for Governor of the Bank of Korea, is heading to the personnel hearing preparation office set up at Hanwha Financial Plaza in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 1st.
Shin Hyun-song has reported total assets of 8,241,020,000 KRW for himself, his spouse, and his eldest son, including apartments and officetels in Seoul. According to the request for a personnel hearing submitted on the 5th, Shin holds a Donghyun Apartment in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, valued at 1,590,000,000 KRW and a D Palace officetel in Sinmun-ro, Jongno-gu, jointly owned with his spouse, valued at 1,800,000,000 KRW.
Shin purchased the apartment in July 2014 and the officetel in July 2024 and has held them since. A Bank of Korea official stated that Shin has put the domestic officetel on sale and plans to liquidate the U.S. apartment.
Shin also reported personal bank and investment accounts amounting to 2,367,930,000 KRW, including 44 shares of Samsung Electronics and 1 share of LG Energy Solution valued at around 915,000 KRW. He also holds British government bonds worth 302,080,000 KRW (150,000 pounds).
Among securities classified as deposits, the ‘SOL Korea Value Up TR’ ETF valued at 303,820,000 KRW is notable. This implies investment in the government’s corporate value-up policy.
In addition, Shin reported an apartment in Illinois, USA, worth 284,940,000 KRW under his spouse’s name and deposits of 1,856,920,000 KRW, along with his son’s reported assets of 28,610,000 KRW in stocks and 82,390,000 KRW in deposits.
Previously, when serving as the International Economy Advisor to the President in 2010, Shin declared assets totaling 2,223,510,000 KRW. Over 16 years, his assets have nearly quadrupled.
If Shin passes the National Assembly personnel hearing and becomes the Governor of the Bank of Korea, he will be the second wealthiest after committee member Chang Yong-seong (assets of 12,434,300,000 KRW) on the Monetary Policy Committee.
Shin graduated high school in the UK, returned to Korea, and served in the army from 1979, finishing as a sergeant with a specialty in English typing at the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command.
He then returned to the UK and obtained a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, and a master’s and doctorate in Economics from Oxford University. He held professorship positions in Economics at Oxford, Southampton, LSE, and Princeton University in the U.S.
Shin has served as an advisor to the Bank of England, a resident scholar at the IMF, and a financial advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. He also worked as the International Economy Advisor at the presidential office in 2010 during the Lee Myung-bak administration.
Since 2014, he has served as the Economic Advisor and Research Director at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and was promoted to Director of Research and Economic Analysis last year. He was nominated for Bank of Korea Governor about five months before his retirement.
Shin’s spouse holds U.S. citizenship, while his son, born in 1996, is a British citizen. Due to renouncing his nationality before turning 18, his son was not required to complete military service.
President Lee stated in the personnel request letter that “Shin possesses excellent insight into domestic and international financial and economic situations, as well as a comprehensive understanding of macroeconomic policies such as monetary policy, with exceptional international sensibility.” He added, “In the current situation where the domestic and international conditions surrounding our economy are highly uncertain, Shin is deemed suitable to ensure stable economic development through price stability and financial stability.”
The National Assembly must complete the hearing process within 20 days of receiving the request for a personnel hearing. The Committee on Strategy and Finance has yet to set a date for the hearing.