Chung Choon-taik, former governor of the Korea Development Bank, died of old age at Severance Hospital in Seoul on Sunday. He was 80.

The Daegu native and Seoul National University graduate served as director-general in charge of foreign exchanges in the Ministry of Finance. In 1978, he became chief executive of Korea Exchange Bank. He then headed the Banking Supervisory Authority, the Korea Development Bank and the Securities Supervisory Board.

He is the only two-time chairman of the Korea Federation of Banks. While heading the federation, he decided to relocate its building to its current site in Myeong-dong, Seoul. He also spun off the Financial Economy Institute into the Korea Institute of Finance.

By Chun Sung-woo (swchun@heraldcorp.com)