Anna Jiwon Park has been covering the politics at The Korea Times since the summer of 2024, when she joined the press pool for the Office of the President in Korea. Prior to that, she spent about five years reporting extensively on financial markets, regulatory authorities and the financial industry. She joined The Korea Times in 2019 after spending eight years as a broadcast journalist at Arirang TV, Korea’s leading global broadcaster, covering politics, defense and culture.
IBK employee fired for illegally using loans to himself for real estate speculation
By Anna J. Park
Industrial Bank of Korea CEO Yoon Jong-won / Korea Times file
By Anna J. Park
An employee from state-run Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) illicitly secured 7.6 billion won ($6.4 million) in loans for himself through family members to purchase 29 properties ― 18 condominiums, nine studio apartments and two other properties ― over the past several years.
The IBK said the malfeasance was uncovered during an internal inspection earlier this year, and the employee was officially dismissed Sept. 1 after a month-long investigation.
The employee gave loans of 7.3 billion won to five corporate bodies operated by direct family members, including his wife and mother, and an additional 240 million won in personal loans, when he worked at a local bank branch in Gyeonggi Province. It is estimated that he made 5 billion won to 6 billion won from the loans due to the difference in the buying and selling prices of the properties.
“Once the bank spotted there was a problem with the loans, the employee was immediately removed from his position. He was officially dismissed following a decision by our personnel management committee that he committed a major violation of internal regulations in the loan granting process,” an official from the bank said.
“In particular, given the bank CEO's emphasis on ethical management, the former employee's case was against the very core values of the bank,” he added.
As the head of a bank branch must approve all loans, this person too will face disciplinary action, although the IBK did not disclose any information citing privacy concerns.
The case was made public after a lawmaker released documents on the incident.
“It is very regrettable to witness this type of incident, when everyone in the country is suffering from stress and a sense of deprivation from soaring real estate prices,” Rep. Yoon Doo-hyun of the United Future Party said.
“While state-run banks ought to have stricter internal regulations and internal control systems, the case shows the bank had a major loophole in management oversight."