Kim Ki-hwan, who spent three years running KB Insurance, is set to become the next head of the Korea Fire Protection Association (KFPA), the industry organization that oversees fire risk services and safety programs across South Korea. The association’s candidate recommendation committee selected Kim as its preferred nominee after a formal multi-stage selection process. His appointment still requires sign-off from the KFPA’s board of directors and its general membership meeting, the Seoul Economic Daily reported on May 28, 2026.
The KFPA opened recruitment for the position on April 20, 2026, and narrowed the field through document screening. Two other finalists were also considered: Kim Beom-jun, who previously served as deputy governor at the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), and Lim Kyu-jun, a former CEO of Heungkuk Fire & Marine Insurance. Kim Ki-hwan, born in 1963, studied economics at Seoul National University. His career was largely built within the KB Financial Group ecosystem – he held posts in public relations, human resources, and risk management at KB Kookmin Bank and KB Financial Group before moving into the role of chief financial officer at the group level. He crossed over to KB Insurance in 2021 and led the company as CEO for three years before his name entered the running for the KFPA chairmanship.
The KFPA sits at the point where the insurance industry and fire safety policy intersect. The association runs fire safety inspections, funds research into risk management techniques, and operates the Fire Insurers Laboratories of Korea (FILK). It also provides underwriting support to member insurers, administers special insured fire insurance programs, and delivers disaster prevention consulting. On the public-facing side, it conducts fire safety education campaigns and runs fire extinguisher donation programs. Whoever leads the KFPA must manage both its industry-facing functions and its growing role as a channel for government-backed fire safety initiatives.
Several months before Kim’s nomination, the KFPA formalized a working relationship with a provincial fire authority that points to where the association is heading institutionally. In November 2025, the organization signed a memorandum of understanding with the Gyeonggi Fire and Disaster Headquarters, with the agreement dated Nov. 7, 2025, according to Maeil Business. The pact was designed around a cost-sharing framework in which public funds and private insurance products work in tandem – covering fire prevention on the front end and household recovery on the back end. Gyeonggi-do was the backdrop for the agreement partly because of the province’s housing conditions. A large share of its residential stock consists of older buildings that carry elevated fire risk. Two fires in multi-family housing – one in Ansan in 2023 and another in Seongnam in 2024 – brought the issue into sharper focus and reinforced the case for a structured response that does not depend entirely on government disaster funds.
The agreement’s provisions cover several areas: screening homes in fire-vulnerable communities for risk factors, distributing safety equipment to those households, conducting on-site inspections in areas identified as high-risk, and working together to raise awareness of fire safety insurance among residents who may not carry it. The underlying rationale, as stated by the parties involved, is that government budgets alone cannot move quickly enough or cover enough ground when a major fire event occurs. The MOU was positioned as a template for a broader model in which local authorities and private insurers divide responsibilities rather than leaving recovery costs entirely to public emergency funds. Then-chairman Kang Young-gu framed the agreement in terms of the association’s longer-term institutional direction. “In the future, the association will continue to play a key bridge role in establishing a sustainable social safety net model in which the public sector, such as the government and local governments, and private insurance cooperate organically,” Kang said, as reported by Maeil Business.
