‘Testosterone is the problem’

Kim Sang-kyung

If it was called Lehman Sisters, there would have been no global financial crisis in 2008 and the U.S. investment firm would still be around, says Korea International Finance Institute CEO Kim Sang-kyung.

Kim, regarded as godmother of women in the financial industry, resorts to the theory of balance to back up her assertion rather than advocating the women-are-better-than-men feminism.

“Men tend to take risks, while women tend to pay more attention to the effects of the risks,” the 63-year-old said. “Women do not keep creating risks-laden products such as derivatives, which are one of the reasons for the economic downturn over the past few years.”
She, however, didn’t go for a women-dominated society in opposition to what we have today.

“When masculinity rules with the exclusion of femininity, it causes problems.”

She said that time is approaching for women to take an active role in the financial industry that is still one of the most male-dominated segments. The Dec. 19 presidential election may prove to be a watershed.

“If a progressive and liberal candidate takes the power, I expect that the nation’s first female banking CEO will become a reality under the next administration,” Kim said.

Kim, who also heads the Korea Network of Women in Finance (KNWF), did not specify who she thinks is “progressive and liberal.”
Kim was the first woman foreign exchange dealer.

Although the senior positions of the financial companies are predominantly held by men, Kim said that the situation is improving with more women joining the sector.

Examples of the growing woman power are Industrial Bank of Korea Senior Executive Vice President Kwon Seon-joo, becoming the first woman to reach a leading position last year, and Prudential Life Korea CEO Sohn Byoung-ok, who became the first woman to take the helm at one of the country’s major insurers last year. <The Korea Times/Kim Tae-gyu>

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