Many columnists argued that Kim's unusual resume for the World Bank is an asset to his candidacy. In a column in The Guardian, Heather Hurlburt suggested that Kim's background would bring much-needed diversity to the organization. Kim who would be the first non-white person to lead the bank could use his experience running a non-profit advocacy organization to "transform" the bank as it tackles contemporary challenges, according to Hurlburt.
The Wall Street Journal editorial board wrote that Kim was an "inspired" nominee for the World Bank. In a Sunday editorial, The Journal's editorial board said that his ability to navigate the College's budget issues and familiarity with campus politics should aid him in managing the World Bank's bureaucracy.
Steve Denning, a contributing columnist for Forbes Magazine, said that the next president of the World Bank will need to devise a clear mission and business model for the organization.
"The particular individual who is chosen to be head of the World Bank will have to overcome these issues, or be imprisoned by them," he said. "The track record over the last half century isn't encouraging."
Korean news agencies have been particularly positive about Kim's nomination, with The Korea Times calling the pick a "superb choice." The South Korean government welcomed his nomination, according to a column in The Korea Herald, which said that Kim could elevate Korea's international presence.
"If Kim takes over the helm of the bank, he may find there is much room for cooperation between his bank and Korea in providing development assistance to emerging nations," The Korea Herald reported.
If confirmed, Kim will be one of two people of Korean descent following Ban Ki-moon's election as United Nations Secretary-General in 2006 to currently hold a high-profile international position, The Korea Times observed. The Korea Times emphasized, however, that Kim's ethnicity is not the only reason why Koreans support his candidacy.
"More than anything else, we think he has the passion and the ability to deliver what the world's poorer countries most direly need to get out of their perennial poverty proper education and health care," The Korea Times' editorial board said in an op-ed.
Columns in The Financial Times and Bloomberg have responded less favorably to Kim's nomination.
In an op-ed appearing in The Financial Times, Edward Luce suggested that political reasons motivated Obama's nomination of Kim. Luce said that many international candidates were better equipped for the position but that choosing a non-American would have left Obama vulnerable to "domestic backlash."
"Were the process genuinely meritocratic if the World Bank board was required to find the best-qualified candidate for the job Dr. Kim would be unlikely to find himself on a shortlist of three," Luce said.
Kim has never managed a business or dealt with widespread corruption, which would weaken his credibility as World Bank president, according to Luce.
In a column for Bloomberg, Clive Crook said that Kim's nomination perpetuates the assumption that the United States runs the World Bank while Europe controls the International Monetary Fund.
"Until Kim's name was put forward, there was wide agreement that the job calls for a highly qualified non-American," Crook said.
Kim has no experience in "development economics or finance," according to Crook. His work as a doctor, anthropologist and health policy specialist provides Kim with a "narrow" focus, Crook said.
Both Crook and Luce supported the candidacy of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the two-time minister of finance in Nigeria. A former World Bank managing director, Okonjo-Iweala is familiar with the bank's internal politics and could better direct the organization, Luce said.
