Rhee Chang-yong

Rhee Chang-yong is a South Korean economist currently serving as the 26th Governor of the <a href="/facts/Bank_of_Korea/Q1IrR2AB">Bank of Korea</a> from April 2022.
In March 2022 President <a href="/facts/Moon_Jae-in/0xbdKLfy">Moon Jae-in</a> tapped Rhee who had led the Asia and Pacific Department at the <a href="/facts/International_Monetary_Fund/tPSTWWS4">International Monetary Fund</a> over 8 years for the country's top monetary policy chief upon recommendations from president-elect <a href="/facts/Yoon_Suk-yeol/R2fNKjuP">Yoon Suk-yeol</a>. On 19 April, a nomination hearing was held at the <a href="/facts/National_Assembly_(South_Korea)/B8rkX7YC">National Assembly</a> where his nomination report was adopted and sent to the President. President Moon appointed Rhee on the following day commencing his four-year term as the Governor to minimise the first-ever vacancy of the Governor in Bank's history.
During the nomination hearing, Rhee vowed to utilise the central bank's "unpopular" tool of base rate to address post-pandemic inflation reiterating the organisation's role in price stabilisation.
Prior to moving to the <a href="/facts/IMF/tPSTWWS4">IMF</a> as the first South Korean to join its senior leadership, Rhee was the chief economist at the <a href="/facts/Asian_Development_Bank/BqGTRkyB">Asian Development Bank</a> where he worked as its spokesperson and head of its Economic and Research Department. Before joining inter-governmental organisations, he first served as an advisor to multiple South Korean government organisations on economic policies from the early 2000s and then joined the transition team of then-president-elect <a href="/facts/Lee_Myung-bak/F87fLyEd">Lee Myung-bak</a> in 2007. Following President Lee's restructuring of government entities, Rhee took the first deputy role of the <a href="/facts/Financial_Services_Commission_(South_Korea)/BhkgyIVT">Financial Services Commission</a> from 2008 to 2009 before joining the Presidential Committee for the <a href="/facts/2010_G20_Seoul_summit/alq5wrHK">2010 G-20 Seoul Summit</a> as its Secretary-General and Sherpa.
Rhee holds two degrees in economics - a bachelor from <a href="/facts/Seoul_National_University/Afc1Sjhn">Seoul National University</a> and a doctorate from <a href="/facts/Harvard_University/Lhy9L1cx">Harvard University</a>. Rhee completed a doctorate in 1989 at the <a href="/facts/Harvard_University/Lhy9L1cx">Harvard University</a>, with <a href="/facts/Lawrence_Summers/QyDj7Eqt">Lawrence Summers</a> as his advisor. After his doctoral studies, he taught at economics departments at <a href="/facts/University_of_Rochester/RT7TWLzd">University of Rochester</a> and <a href="/facts/Seoul_National_University/Afc1Sjhn">Seoul National University</a>.
On April 18, 2024, <a href="/facts/Bank_of_Korea/Q1IrR2AB">Bank of Korea</a> Governor Lee Chang-yong will attend the <a href="/facts/G20/pFut6kJQ">G20</a> Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in <a href="/facts/Washington%2c_D.C./enXPK156">Washington, D.C</a>. and the <a href="/facts/International_Monetary_Fund/tPSTWWS4">International Monetary Fund</a>-<a href="/facts/World_Bank_Group/9z4A2PDl">World Bank Group</a> (WBG) Spring Conference. Later, on April 21, the meeting period, he was selected as the winner of the American Foreign Policy Association's medal and will participate in the ceremony.

Rhee Chang-yong open-in-new

Rhee Chang-yong