오종남 吳鍾南
7th Commissioner of Statistics Korea, first Korean executive director at the IMF, and private co-chair of the Saemangeum Committee
| Life | 1952 |
| Era | 현대 |
| Clan | 함양 오씨 |
Life & career
O Jong-nam (吳鍾南, born 1952) is a former economic official of the Hamyang O clan. Korean Wikipedia's entry on the clan lists him as the 7th Commissioner of Statistics Korea. According to a January 2016 interview in the Jeonbuk Ilbo he was born in Gochang, attended Seokgok Elementary, Gochang Middle and Gwangju High School, graduated from the law college of Seoul National University and earned a master's in business and a doctorate in economics at Southern Methodist University in Texas.
He passed the 17th higher civil service examination in 1975 and began as a probationary official in Jeongeup County, then worked at the Economic Planning Board and the Ministry of Finance and Economy. In 1998, with the launch of the Kim Dae-jung administration, he was appointed a presidential secretary and held the posts of policy secretary, construction and transport secretary, industry-communications-science secretary and finance-economy secretary. He served as head of the statistics office for about two and a half years from early 2002; Statistics Korea records of 2002-2003 show him as commissioner signing a Korea-Mongolia statistical cooperation agreement and attending the International Statistical Institute conference. At the end of 2004 he became the first Korean executive director of the IMF. During the 1997 crisis he interpreted for the heads of the IMF and the World Bank, and he is known to be fluent in English and Japanese.
After leaving in late 2006 he advised multinational companies as a law-firm adviser for about ten years, and is also noted to have worked for the Seoul Olympic Organizing Committee and the Korean Committee for UNICEF. In 2016 he was appointed the 4th private co-chair of the Saemangeum Committee, saying he worked unpaid. This page keeps to facts confirmed in that article, Statistics Korea records and Wikipedia; the birth year follows Wikipedia, and detailed dates may vary between reports.
Statistics Chief and IMF Director
After about two and a half years as head of the statistics office from early 2002, he became the first Korean executive director of the IMF at the end of 2004. He is described as having served four times as a presidential secretary under the Kim Dae-jung government; see Kim Dae-jung.
Saemangeum Committee
In 2016 he was appointed the 4th private co-chair of the Saemangeum Committee and said he worked unpaid.