Choi Jong-seok, son of former President Choi Kyu-hah, has been picked to head Korea Investment Corp., officials said.

The country’s sovereign wealth fund and Ministry of Strategy and Finance have reviewed four applicants for the post and selected Choi, former chief executive of Allianz Global Investors Korea Ltd. and former vice president of Hana Bank. 

Choi, 60, will replace Chin Young-wook, whose two-year term expired.

The KIC was established by the government in 2005 with the aim of investing excess reserves of the Bank of Korea abroad more actively. KIC runs $35 billion in assets at present.

It came under fire when it incurred an appraisal loss of $816 million on its $2 billion investment in Merrill Lynch in 2008, the wealth management unit of Bank of America.

A graduate of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, he has held a variety of positions in the financial industry using his expertise in international finance and private investment, including at Korea Exchange Bank and Hana Bank.

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)