Woori Financial nominates new head of banking arm

Woori Bank's headquarters in Seoul / Yonhap

By Lee Min-hyung

Woori Bank CEO nominee Lee Won-duk

Woori Financial Group nominated Senior Deputy President Lee Won-duk as the next leader of its banking arm, the company said Monday.

Lee, 60, is known as the group's key strategist. He has been in charge of mapping out the group's management strategies as senior vice president since 2020.

Lee will replace incumbent CEO Kwon Kwang-seok after being approved at the group's regular shareholder meeting in March.

“We identified Lee as the most qualified figure for the position, and expect him to revitalize the organization and stabilize management after the group's recent privatization,” Woori's CEO recommendation committee said.

Last year, Woori Financial Group achieved complete privatization for the first time in 23 years. This has raised hopes for the group to remain more agile in its key decision-making and business expansion.

The financial holding firm spoke highly of Lee's comprehensive understanding of key businesses of the group.

“He has a deep and comprehensive understanding of Woori's overall business strategies by having held major posts within the group,” the recommendation committee said. “We also recognized his experience as a leader of the group's digital innovation committee at a time when platform competitiveness is getting more and more important.”

Shares of Woori Financial have also been on a rapid rise for the past few months on expectations of its major leap forward after the much-anticipated privatization.

The stock price hovered at around 13,000 won per share during the fourth quarter, but its value has sharply risen to over 15,000 won this year.

Woori Financial Group is set to unveil its 2021 earnings on Wednesday. According to data from market tracker FnGuide, the group is estimated to have achieved a record net profit of 2.7 trillion won last year.

Woori hopes Lee will exercise strong leadership to maintain the upward momentum. He is one of the group's internal directors along with Chairman Son Tae-seung.

The financial firm also plans to appoint Woori Bank's Executive Vice President Park Hwa-jae and Deputy Executive Vice President Chun Sang-wook as presidents of Woori Financial Group.

The promotion of the two executives reflects the group's willingness to widen its business portfolio into non-banking sectors and garner synergy between its banking and non-banking affiliates.

“We placed our focus on transforming the group into a more dynamic organization during the latest reshuffle of the top management,” the committee said.

Meanwhile, Kwon will retire after ending his two-year tenure at the end of March.