In 2021, we will make sure that our business stays on the right track despite some disrupting effects of the pandemic. As we did respond to external changes in a proactive and swift manner in 2020, we will continue to demonstrate our resilience and agility in response to any future changes.

Looking back on 2020, it was a year like no other. The year began with the outbreak of COVID-19, which turned rapidly into a global pandemic crisis. This unexpected pandemic situation has changed many aspects of our daily lives, with social distancing becoming the norm. What seemed like mundane daily activities have now become a cause for concern.

The world of business is also being reshaped as the economy has been under pressure, with financial markets going through excessive swings. The (re)insurance industry has not been free from the effects of the global pandemic, which arrived at a time when the industry was already struggling with the double whammy of low interest rates and slowing growth. The challenges facing the industry have been further compounded by rising economic uncertainty in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We at Korean Re have been taking every possible action to keep our employees and clients safe from the pandemic crisis and to mitigate any adverse impacts on our business. Most importantly, we have responded to the pandemic swiftly in accordance with our Business Continuity Plan (BCP). Under the BCP, we implemented an efficiently organized remote working scheme and made the most of video conferencing to make sure that our daily work and business operations were conducted in the most consistent way possible. We canceled almost every overseas business trip and face-to-face gathering, turning most in-person meetings into virtual ones.

We also issued an official statement on our website to make sure that our clients, shareholders and other stakeholders should stay informed of how we were responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and its possible impacts on our business. It set out the measures we had been taking under the BCP and highlighted our efforts to serve our clients with as much confidence and stability as ever. We also underscored our commitment to ensuring that the company’s operational direction and shareholder-friendly policies would remain unchanged in the face of setbacks from the pandemic.

Given these extraordinary circumstances, we are proud that Korean Re delivered relatively encouraging results in 2020, with gross written premiums increasing by 4.9% to KRW 8,447.1 billion and net written premiums growing by 6.6% to KRW 5,900.1 billion. We reported decent net income results of KRW 142.1 billion after tax, albeit below the strongest level achieved in the previous year. As of the end of 2020, our total assets increased by KRW 786.8 billion to KRW 12,519.9billion, while there was a rise of KRW 215.9 billion in invested assets, which totaled KRW 6,438.1 billion. These achievements clearly demonstrate our ability to deal better with hard times and keep ahead of the competition.

We are also pleased to note that 2020 was another year of significant progress in global expansion. In January, Korean Re expanded its global reach by setting up a new branch in Shanghai, China. The new branch in Mainland China will help us strengthen our presence in China and capitalize on the country’s rapidly growing insurance market. In February, we also opened a new representative office in Bogotá, Colombia as our first foothold in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Our commitment to expanding into global markets remains solid, although we may have a bumpy road ahead due to the coronavirus pandemic. We will continue to push forward our initiatives to explore new overseas markets, while setting our sights on achieving sustainable growth and profitability.

As we move into 2021, we are cautiously optimistic that our business environment will improve in line with positive pricing momentum in the global reinsurance market. It is not clear yet when the coronavirus pandemic will end, and we still have to deal with uncertainty related to COVID-19. However, some progress will be expected when vaccines are deployed as swiftly as we hope.

Over the past one year, we have experienced tremendous changes in the wake of the pandemic, and some say they are so drastic and sweeping that it would have taken half a decade for such changes to occur if it had not been for COVID-19. This means that we may be able to turn the pandemic-induced crisis into a new opportunity for a paradigm shift in the way we think, work and do business. No matter how hard this time may look, it would be good for us to be reminded that the Black Death in the European medieval era and its disruptive impacts on society led to the emergence of the Renaissance – the start of a great cultural renewal.

In 2021, we will make sure that our business stays on the right track despite some disrupting effects of the pandemic. As we did respond to external changes in a proactive and swift manner in 2020, we will continue to demonstrate our resilience and agility in response to any future changes.

To our clients, partners and shareholders, we wish you all the best and good health and thank you for putting your trust in Korean Re. We always bear in mind the responsibility that comes with this trust. We will remain strongly committed to improving our business performance and supporting our clients so that we can continue to drive value for all stakeholders involved.

Thank you.

Jong-Gyu Won
President and CEO