| Lee Yong-woo | |
| Native Name Lang: | ko |
| Birth Date: | 1 February 1964 |
| Birth Place: | Chuncheon, Gangwon, South Korea |
| Citizenship: | South Korean |
| Office1: | Member of the National Assembly |
| Constituency1: | Goyang 4th |
| Term Start1: | 30 May 2020 |
| Predecessor1: | Kim Hyun-mee |
| Office2: | CEO of KakaoBank |
| Term Start2: | 22 January 2016 |
| Term End2: | 13 January 2020 Serving with Yoon Ho-young |
| Predecessor2: | Position established |
| Successor2: | Yoon Ho-young |
| Party: | Democratic |
| Alma Mater: | Seoul National University |
| Occupation: | Banker, entrepreneur, politician |
| Spouse: | Kim Kyung-ae |
| Children: | 1 |
Lee Yong-woo (born 1 February 1964) is a South Korean entrepreneur, banker and politician currently serving as the Member of the National Assembly for Goyang 4th constituency since 2020. Prior to entering politics, he was the co-CEO of KakaoBank, along with Yoon Ho-young.
Born in Chuncheon,[1] Lee was grown up in Busan, where he studied at Pujun Primary School, Busan East Secondary School and Gaya High School.[2] [3] [4] He earned a bachelor's and a master's degree in economics at Seoul National University.[1]
He joined the Hyundai Research Institute as a researcher in 1992.[5] [4] He worked at the General Planning Office at Hyundai Group, as well as a senior economist at Hyundai Investment Trust Securities.[1] [2] [5] [4] He led strategic planning, as well as mergers and acquisitions (M&A) at the Hyundai Motor Company.[1] [2] [4] In addition, he also served as the Director of the Dongwon Securities, the Director of Strategic Planning of the Korea Investment Holdings, the Director of Asset Management Division of the Korea Investment & Securities and the Chief Investment Officer of the Korea Investment Management.[2] [5] [4]
He founded KakaoBank along with Yoon Ho-young in the end of 2015 (officially in 2016) and subsequently became its co-CEO.[3] [4] Under his leadership, the company achieved a surplus within 2 years,[4] [5] as well as putting themselves as the largest online banking company in South Korea.[2]
From 1992 to 1993, he worked as a secretary to the then Democratic MP Jae-Sik Chang, the father of Ha-Joon Chang.[6]
On 12 January 2020, Lee was brought into the ruling Democratic Party.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] As he joined politics, he subsequently resigned from KakaoBank.[7] [8] On 24 February, he was confirmed as the candidate for Goyang 4th constituency, replacing the incumbent MP and the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Hyun-mee[9] [10] who had declared to not seek for re-election.[11] [12] In the general election held on 15 April, he defeated the UFP candidate Kim Hyunah.[13]
Lee married to Kim Kyung-ae.[14]
He is also an elder brother to Lee Chan-woo, the former Assistant Minister of Economy and Finance.[3]