Kang Shin-sook, called the “myth of high school graduates,” becomes head of Suhyup Bank

The Suhyup Bank President Recommendation Committee announced on Nov. 15 that Kang Shin-suk, 61, vice president of finance at the Federation of Suhyup Banks, was appointed as the next Suhyup Bank president.

She is the third female bank president after former President Kwon Sun-joo of Industrial Bank of Korea (2013) and CEO Yoo Myung-soon of Citi Bank (2020). Newly appointed President Kang is called the “myth of high school graduates of Suhyup.”

She joined Suhyup Bank in 1979 after graduating from Jeonju Women's Commercial High School. She has constantly broken the glass ceiling, becoming the youngest female general manager (2005), the first female vice president (2013), and the first female executive director (2016) at Suhyup Bank.

An official from the Suhyup said, "She is a living witness of the Suhyup, who started from the bottom and rose to the CEO position."

The new President Kang is considered a “salesman” with excellent resourcefulness. When she was a manager at the Seokchon-dong branch in Seoul, she increased the number of customers by visiting customers directly.

In 2000, she was selected as a “new knowledge financier” by the Kim Dae-jung administration in recognition of her original business method.

Her biggest weapon is the habit of organizing all trivial information, such as the customer's hometown, hobbies, family relationships, and investment propensity, in her 'customer note'.

The anecdote that she changed the branch that was in crisis in 10 months after being appointed as the branch manager of Ogum-dong in Seoul in 2001 to the first place in the nation's sales performance still comes down like a legend.

It is said that she expanded her business by analyzing customers overnight. At that time, Suhyup Bank selected her as an advertising model.

It was not until the mid-40s when she took her place in the Suhyup that she was able to solve the problem of studying. In 2005, she entered the Department of Real Estate at Seoul Cyber University at the age of 44. After graduation, she also earned a master's degree from Yonsei University.

The recommendation committee members are said to have appreciated the fact that Kang is a candidate from the inside who has accumulated experience in the Suhyup Bank and the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives.

Kang was officially appointed as the head of the bank at the general meeting of the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives on Nov. 17.