Korean banks raise vigilance after Shinhan employee shot in Myanmar

Anti-coup protesters run to avoid military forces during a demonstration in Yangon, Myanmar, on Wednesday. AP-Yonhap

By Lee Min-hyung

Shinhan Bank decided Thursday to temporarily shut down its office in Myanmar's largest city of Yangon after one of its employees was left in a critical condition after being shot by the country's military.

The decision is based on the highest of the lender's three-level emergency response manual. All employees there have started working from home following the incident, and the lender is considering ordering Korean employees there to return home under the heightened crisis manual.

“We have decided to increase the alert level for the safety of our staff there,” a Shinhan spokesman said. “Shinhan's Korean headquarters will support work for customers in Yangon.”

The 33-year-old Burmese official hired by Shinhan's Yangon office was shot on Wednesday afternoon while in a corporate vehicle on her way home from work. The employee is known to be in critical condition.

Eleven Korean banks are operating Myanmar branches or offices as of the end of September, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. The growing social and political unrest in the Southeast Asian country leaves the Korean financial firms in a dilemma over whether to withdraw their businesses there.

Most of the lenders have upped their level of vigilance there following the Shinhan incident, and said they would tighten their monitoring of the turmoil for the sake of the safety of their employees.

Woori Bank's Myanmar branch, Woori Finance Myanmar, said it would keep a closer watch on the deepening conflict between the country's military coup and protesters. Woori employs more than 500 Myanmarese staff there.

“Only a few employees stay in office for shortened work hours to continue business there,” an official from Woori said. “We keep enhancing monitoring of the country's political situation, and plan to take additional steps in line with our contingency plan.”

KB Kookmin Bank is also paying close attention to whether the regional unrest will escalate to a level that may pose a safety threat to its employees there.

“All of our Korean and Burmese employees there are working from home,” an official from the lender said. “KB keeps in close touch with the Myanmar office via a hotline, so we can take prompt measures in case of emergency.” Four Korean officials are dispatched to KB Bank Myanmar. The bank said it would decide whether to recall them to Korea based on guidelines from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Two of Korea's state-run lenders ― Korea Development Bank (KDB) and Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) ― also stepped up their vigilance to ensure the safety of their employees there.

Both lenders are cooperating with the country's diplomatic office to make sure they can follow their own business continuity plans (BCP).

“We keep in close contact with the Korean Embassy in Yangon, and plan to continue operating our business there in accordance with the BCP,” a KDB spokesman said.

IBK also ordered all of its employees in Myanmar to work from home Thursday in response to the military conflict there.

No Korean banks have decided to withdraw their businesses in Myanmar as of now, even though the unceasing turmoil there will end up causing massive losses at least in the first half of this year.

But the escalating regional uncertainty will put pressure on Korean banks and financial players in the insurance and card industries to consider suspending operations there.

The aforementioned Korean major banking groups' card subsidiaries also have a presence there. Their earnings are also expected to drop in the aftermath of the Myanmar bloodshed.

The Financial Services Commission also held an hour-long meeting on Thursday morning to ensure operation of emergency contact networks with employees from the Korean financial firms there.

“Financial authorities will keep in touch with the foreign ministry and do their utmost for the safety of employees of Korean financial firms there by taking relevant measures,” the ministry said in a statement.