Chairman Im Jongryong of Woori Financial Group: "Pursuing Inclusive Finance with a Sense of Urgency"

2026 Group Management Strategy Workshop
Productive and Inclusive Finance, AX, and Synergy Creation
Declaration of Three Core Strategies

Woori Financial Group held the "2026 Group Management Strategy Workshop" at Vision Hall of its headquarters in Hoehyeon, Seoul, on January 16. At the event, Im Jongryong, Chairman of Woori Financial Group, announced three core strategies: productive and inclusive finance, group-wide artificial intelligence transformation (AX), and strengthening synergies as a comprehensive financial group.

Approximately 400 people attended the workshop, including the heads of group affiliates, all executives, bank division and department heads, and outstanding employees from across the group. The program began with a message from the CEO, followed by a review of the group’s performance in the previous year, a presentation of this year’s strategic directions, the “Woori Financial Person of the Year” and outstanding employee awards, and a traditional Korean music performance by scholarship recipients of the Woori Multicultural Scholarship Foundation.

Chairman Im described the past three years-during which the group achieved full privatization, improved its capital ratio, and completed its transformation into a comprehensive financial group-as “Act One.” He designated this year as the official starting point of “Act Two,” urging all affiliates to focus on enhancing the group’s overall competitiveness.

Chairman Im first placed emphasis on strengthening the execution of productive and inclusive finance. He stated, “What matters now is not who did it first, but who executes with greater completeness and delivers results,” adding, “We must not remain as a first mover, but instead increase the completeness of our future co-growth project execution and become a financial group that contributes to the growth of both the group and our client companies.”

On the 16th, at the Woori Financial Group headquarters in Hoehyeon, Seoul, Im Jongryong, Chairman of Woori Financial Group, announced the three core strategies of productive finance, AX leadership, and synergy creation at the "2026 Woori Financial Group Management Strategy Workshop." Woori Financial Group

He particularly highlighted that productive finance is the area where Woori Financial Group, as a leader in corporate finance, possesses the strongest competitiveness. He stressed that the group should leverage its strengths to secure high-quality business opportunities, enhance operational efficiency through artificial intelligence (AI), and establish a new risk management framework. These efforts, he said, should support industrial growth and corporate innovation, while also serving as an opportunity to leap ahead of competing groups.

He also emphasized inclusive finance and financial consumer protection. He called for the continued rollout of substantial financial benefits, such as expanding the coverage of the 7% annual interest rate cap on personal credit loans. This month, Woori Financial Group became the first domestic financial holding company to appoint a dedicated Chief Customer Officer (CCO) for consumer protection and established a new division focused on consumer protection.

For the second strategy, he presented group-wide AX, stating, “AX is the standard that determines the landscape of finance, so we must instill an AI-driven management system throughout the group with the mindset that ‘we are an AI company.’” Based on the “Group AX Master Plan,” Woori Financial Group plans to implement a total of 344 use cases-200 in banking and 144 in non-banking sectors-by next year, accelerating the adoption of AI-driven management systems and the transformation of work processes.

As the third strategy, the group will begin in earnest to strengthen synergies as a comprehensive financial group, based on its completed group portfolio. By fostering collaboration among affiliates in banking, insurance, and securities, the group aims to increase the share of non-banking profits to 20% and dramatically enhance its overall competitiveness.

In his closing remarks, Chairman Im said, “The financial environment is changing rapidly, but the essence of finance-trust-never changes. We must steadfastly pursue inclusive finance and consumer protection, grounded in trust, sincerity, and a sense of urgency.” He added, “The faster the pace of change, the more firmly we must uphold our core values and responsibilities as financial professionals.”