Kwon Kwang-seok Likely to Be Reappointed as Bank President
Under Commercial Law, Bank President's Term Up to 3 Years... Additional Term Expected to Be 2 or 1 Year
[Asia Economy Reporter Wondara] Woori Financial Group and Woori Bank will each hold the Subsidiary CEO Recommendation Committee (Jachu-wi) and the Executive Candidate Recommendation Committee (Imchu-wi) on the 4th to decide whether to renew the term of Kwon Kwang-seok, CEO of Woori Bank.
According to banking circles on the 2nd, Woori Financial Group and Woori Bank will hold the Jachu-wi and Imchu-wi on the 4th. Once the Jachu-wi recommends the next bank president candidate, the Imchu-wi will conduct qualification verification and recommendation for the candidate. CEO Kwon's term lasts until the shareholders' meeting on the 25th.
Inside and outside Woori Bank, it is widely expected that CEO Kwon will be reappointed. This is because if the bank president is replaced while Sohn Tae-seung, chairman of Woori Financial Group, has been preliminarily notified of a heavy disciplinary action (suspension) by the Financial Supervisory Service related to the Lime incident, it could burden the group leadership. Compared to the usual '2+1' three-year term for bank presidents, CEO Kwon's term was unusually one year, and he has been evaluated as leading Woori Bank well without any clear mistakes.
The key issue under internal discussion is the additional term. Considering that under current commercial law the bank president's term can be up to three years, the most likely possibility is an additional two-year term, but it is known that internal opinions have not yet been consolidated.
Meanwhile, CEO Kwon has recently been focusing on activating the 'Gachi Group (VG system),' a collaboration system among branches that groups one base branch and about 4 to 8 nearby branches into one group. The purpose is to respond to the risk of accelerated financial entry by internet banks and big tech companies through joint sales among branches, sharing work know-how, and joint customer management.
In his New Year's address this year, CEO Kwon mentioned the Gachi Group system, saying, "The emergence of internet-only banks, big tech, and platform companies demands fundamental innovation to the extent that the definition of banking must be newly established," and added, "This year, Woori Bank will set its direction as 'Digital First, Digital Initiative' and accelerate the digitalization of the sales field."
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