韩国银行行长申贤松就职演说

21April2026 ShinHyunSongGovernorBank of Korea (This is an unofficial translation prepared by the Bank’s staff based ontheoriginal speech released on21April 2026.) Distinguished colleagues of the Bank of Korea, Today, I stand before you, having been appointedGovernor of the Bank of Korea. Whileit is a profound privilege to have been given the opportunity to serve the Bank of Korea andthe Korean economy after many years in academia abroad and at international organizations,I am also keenly aware of the heavyresponsibility that comes with this role. Let me begin by expressing my deep gratitude to the former Governors, colleagues, andmembers of the Monetary Policy Board, who have devoted themselves to the development ofour national economy. In particular, Iwish to pay tribute to Governor Chang Yong Rhee forhis leadership in maintaining economic stability and raising the profile of the Bank of Koreaunder challenging domestic and global conditions over the past four years. Dear colleagues, The economic landscape we face now, both at home and abroad, is far from easy. In thewake of the conflict in the Middle East, rising oil prices have heightened both upwardpressure on inflation and downward pressure on growth, while elevated volatility in financialmarkets and the risk of a buildup of financial imbalances continue to persist. From a longer-term perspective, the global economic order is undergoing a period ofprofound transformation, driven by geopolitical tensions and the AI technological revolution.Trade tensions sparked by tariff policies are reshaping the trade structure, while tensions inthe Middle East are once again intensifying concerns over an energy crisis. AI technologieshave already changed the industrial landscape over the last few years,and will have asignificant impact on the broader economy, encompassing economic growth, productivity,and labor markets. Domestically, demographic change,deepening polarization, and issues regarding the realestate market and household debt are erodingthe engines of our growth. It remains difficultto predict how these structural factors will interact with ongoing shifts in the global economy and evolve going forward. Dear colleagues, At such a time of transition, we must once again ask ourselves what role a central bankshould play. Looking back, the history of central banking has been one of continuous evolution inresponse to the changingneeds of the economic environment. Deposit banks that emerged inEuropean city-states in the seventeenth century served as anchors of trust in trade and moneyby issuing credible deposits and facilitating settlements amid a proliferation of metalliccurrencies, and can be regarded as the forerunners of modern central banks. Through theGreat Depression in the 1930s and the stagflation in the 1970s, central banks came to serve asthe central pillar of macroeconomic management, fostering both price stability andstablegrowth. In the wake of the Global Financial Crisis, financial stability was added as animportantresponsibility. This evolution of central banking did not follow from established theory. Rather, it was aprocess in which experience led and theory followed. The challenges we face today are nodifferent. We must find our answers through practice and,in doing so, develop newframeworks. It is in this spirit that I would like to outline four priorities for the coming four years. First, uncertainty surrounding the paths of inflation and growth has increased further,amid supply-side shocks stemming from conflict in the Middle East. In this environment, wewill conduct monetary policy with prudence and flexibility, to maintain price and financialstability. At the same time, we will continue our efforts to enhance the effectiveness of monetarypolicy. We will reassess our policy instruments to better manage the trade-offs among policyobjectives, andcoordinatewith the government where appropriate. We willalso deepen two- way communication with markets and continue to explore our communication approachessuited to our domestic context. Second, we must approach financial stability with a new lens. The boundaries between banks and non-banks, and between domestic and cross-borderactivities, are blurring rapidly. Financial markets are becoming more tightly interconnectedwith asset markets, and their impact on the real economy has grown accordingly. In thisenvironment, traditional frameworks alone are no longer sufficient to fully identify andrespond to emerging risks in the financial system. Accordingly, we will strengthen our early warning capabilities by making more activeuse of movements in market-based price indicators, alongside conventional prudentialindicators. We also need to broaden the scope of our analysis in light of the expanding non-bank sector and stronger cross-market linkages, by improving access to information on thenon-bank sector andincorporatingoff-balance-sheet transactions and non-traditional financialproduct