Kexim's funding machine

Funding guy Choi Sung-hwan

Choi Sung-hwan, the chief financial officer of Export-Import Bank of Korea Kexim controls the reins of one of Asia’s biggest funding machines. The Seoul-headquartered policy bank raised about $11 billion from debt markets last year, making it one of Asia’s most prolific borrowers and a trendsetter for a swath of Korean companies that tap debt markets.

Choi, a self-described “funding guy”, became CFO last year, after more than three decades at the bank, when the tenure of his predecessor Kim Yoon-Yung ended.

Kexim lends to Korean exporters and provides import finance, greasing the...