Korean-American named to lead Prudential Group

James Choi Spackman, chairman and CEO of the Prudential Life Insurance Co. of Korea, was named Monday to lead the Prudential International Insurance Group.

The Group operates Prudential's insurance business in Asia, Europe and Latin America.

His predecessor at the post, Kiyofumi Sakaguchi, died last week in Japan.

The accession of the Korean-American, who has been in financial services throughout his life, means he has stepped into a top five position within the Prudential Financial group, an official at the company's Seoul office said. Prudential firms worldwide own $560 billion in assets and operate in life and casualty insurance, securities, banking and real estate in 35 countries.

Mr. Spackman's life is a success story that had a hard beginning during the Korean War. Having lost his parents in the war, Mr. Spackman was adopted into an American family and left the country in 1955.

His association with Korea did not end with that departure, however. After Harvard College and Columbia University graduate school, he returned to Korea to serve as a U.S. Air Force officer in Osan. Through the late 1960s and since, he served at the Seoul offices of Chase Manhattan Bank and Marine Midland Bank.

His association with Prudential did not begin until 1993, when he took the top post of the Korean subsidiary. He managed to turn around a lackluster operation that drew speculation that Prudential would be pulling the operation from Korea.

by Cha Jin-yong