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Photo courtesy of Yonhap News |
[Alpha Biz= Paul Lee] The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has canceled its planned September 12 visit to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), opting instead to conduct its annual consultations virtually.
According to financial industry officials on September 11, the IMF informed Korea’s Ministry of Economy and Finance of its decision, citing a preference to avoid entanglement in the political debate surrounding the government’s planned financial regulatory restructuring.
The cancellation has disrupted plans by the FSS labor union, which had prepared to submit a petition expressing concerns that the restructuring could undermine the agency’s independence.
The issue is symbolically significant: the FSS was originally established in 1999 following IMF recommendations during the Asian financial crisis, as part of reforms to unify financial oversight and strengthen stability. FSS staff argue that the government’s proposal to spin off consumer protection functions into a new Financial Consumer Protection Agency and to reclassify both entities as public institutions runs counter to those original IMF-backed principles.
알파경제 Paul Lee 특파원(hoondork1977@alphabiz.co.kr)
