Incumbent chairman seen as frontrunner KB Financial Group's headquarters in Yeouido, western Seoul (KB Financial Group) KB Financial Group's next chairman will be chosen from three candidates, including the incumbent Chairman Yang Jong-hee, the banking group announced Thursday.Following a meeting of its chairman candidate recommendation committee, the group announced that the field of candidates has been narrowed down to three people, including Yang, Lee Jae-keun, chief business officer of global, wealth management and corporate finance, and former Woori Bank CEO Kwon Kwang-seok.The decision was made after conducting in-depth interviews with six candidates. The other three were Chief Strategy Officer Lee Chang-kwon, KB Kookmin Bank CEO Lee Hwan-ju and an outside candidate who requested anonymity, the group explained."The process was conducted transparently based on fair and objective criteria," said Cho Hwa-joon, chair of the chairman candidate recommendation committee."We will do our utmost to ensure that the best-qualified candidate, who can earn the trust of all stakeholders, is selected as the next chairman."Yang, who took the top post in November 2023, is widely seen as having a strong chance of securing another term, backed by the group's strong earnings performance.KB Financial posted a record-high net profit of 3.88 trillion won ($2.8 billion) in the first half of this year, up 13.1 percent from a year earlier, marking its highest-ever first-half profit. The group also outperformed its major banking peers during the period.A notable achievement under Yang has been the expansion of earnings base beyond banking. Nonbank affiliates accounted for 44 percent of the group's net profit in the first half of this year, up 5 percentage points from 39 percent a year earlier.KB Securities, the group's brokerage affiliate, led growth in the nonbanking segment, with its first-half net profit surging 135 percent from a year earlier to 796.3 billion won.Expanded shareholder returns are another achievement Yang can point to. KB Financial has announced plans to return around 3.7 trillion won to shareholders this year.As local financial regulators have delayed announcing measures to curb lengthy tenures for banking group chiefs, the likelihood of the new rules directly affecting the current chairman selection process has also diminished.The committee will conduct a second round of in-depth interviews with the three finalists on Sept. 11 before selecting the final candidate for the next chairman. Yang's incumbent term is set to end on Nov. 20.