Citi’s South Korea business is well known for the connectivity it offers its global and domestic clients, its solid investment banking and corporate banking franchise, and a resilient business model that ensures that it is well-positioned for growth in Asia’s fourth-largest economy.
But one thing that makes the US bank stand out is its push for diversity.
Myung-soon Yoo, who has led Citi’s operations in South Korea since November 2020, is the first woman to hold that position at Citi and is a distinct rarity in this patriarchal society.
In July 2022, the Women Leaders Index, tabulated by the Global Government Forum, reported that female executives hold just 6.3% of board positions at Korea’s 353 biggest companies. All told, the index finds, just 914 executive positions out of 14,418 are held by women.
More broadly, despite an abundance of well-educated women, Korea has the widest gender pay gap – 31.1% – among the 38 members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Clearly, the business world is changing, and Korea’s finance leadership should not be just a man’s game
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All the available data – whether from the OECD, the IMF or Goldman Sachs, whose analysts coined the term womenomics – indicate that nations that make the best use of their female workforces are the most vibrant, entrepreneurial and productive.
“Clearly,