OSAKA -- A former Finance Ministry official will become president of a bank planned by an umbrella organization of "shogin" credit unions serving Korean residents of Japan, organization officials said Wednesday.
Yoshitaka Nagai, currently senior corporate auditor at Michinoku Bank based in Aomori, will head the new bank, which is being set up by the Association of Korean Credit Cooperatives (Kanshinkyo). Kanshinkyo hopes the new bank's operations will start in July.
Nagai, 68, entered the Finance Ministry in 1957 and assumed his current post at Michinoku Bank in June 1997 after serving as executive director and vice president.
Lee Jong Dae, chairman of Kanshinkyo, will become the chairman of the new bank, the officials said.
Kanshinkyo also expects someone at Daiwa Bank to be sent over to the new bank to become an executive director.
The 19 credit unions grouped under Kanshinkyo hope the bank will take over the assets and liabilities of the failed credit unions, including the Osaka-based Kansai Kogin credit cooperative, a relatively large union under the umbrella body.
The South Korean government is expected to provide up to 33.6 billion yen in funds to help create the new bank.