[THE INVESTOR] It seems to be the season for stepping back. Kim Yong-hwan, the incumbent chairman of Nonghyup Financial Group said on April 19 that he would not seek to renew his term a third time.

His announcement has more or less cleared the path for former Korea Kim became the only man standing after another candidate Yoon Yong-ro, chairman of Koramco Reits and Trust stepped down earlier this month.

Nonghyup Financial Group is the holding company of Nonghyup Agricultural Cooperative Federation. 

Recently, several executives at prominent Korean organizations have offered to step down, some due to controversy, some to open the path to younger chiefs. 

They include POSCO Chairman Kwon Oh-joon who offered to resign to bring faster and more innovative change to the firm, and the former head of the Financial Supervisory Service who resigned over a hiring scam he was involved in. His predecessor, Kim Ki-suk, also stepped down due to past misconduct.
 
By Park Ga-young (gypark@heraldcorp.com)