November 29, 2024

• 

Jeong Jin-wan, CEO nominee for Woori Bank and current vice president of the bank's SME Group. (Woori Bank)

Woori Financial Group has nominated Jeong Jin-wan, Woori Bank's vice president overseeing banking for small and medium enterprises, to be the bank's next chief executive officer, Friday.

The decision follows a two-month management succession process initiated in late September, in line with financial authorities' governance regulations. The group’s subsidiary CEO recommendation committee selected the vice president leading Woori Bank's Small and Medium Enterprises Group as the sole candidate for the position.

“With former CEO Cho Byung-kyu delivering his decision not to seek reappointment, the bank has prioritized 'organizational reform' and 'generational transition' in the selection process, taking into account recent internal control issues,” Woori Financial Group said in a statement.

Born in 1968, Jeong began his career at Hanil Bank, which merged with the Commercial Bank of Korea in 1999 to form Hanbit Bank. It was rebranded as Woori Bank in 2002.

A seasoned corporate banking expert, Jeong has held key roles, including head of the Institutional Sales Strategy Department, SME Strategy Department and director of the Headquarters Sales Division. Since 2023, he has served as vice president of the bank’s SME Group.

"As the youngest candidate, Jeong was widely respected both within and outside the organization, receiving positive feedback during expert interviews, management plan presentations and comprehensive evaluations," an official from the group said.

"The company determined he is the ideal leader to spearhead organizational renewal, including corporate culture innovation and to advance a corporate finance-focused business strategy."

Jeong's primary tasks will be reforming the internal control system and restoring public trust.

Woori Bank has faced a series of financial incidents, including several cases of damages exceeding 1 billion won ($720,000) this year alone. Despite pledging to strengthen its internal control mechanisms following a shocking 70 billion won embezzlement scandal at its headquarters in 2022, the bank has struggled to prevent further incidents.

Most recently, the bank has been accused of improperly lending around 35 billion won to family members of former group Chairman Sohn Tae-seung between April 2020 and early this year. The case remains under investigation, with a local court recently rejecting the prosecutor’s arrest warrant for Sohn.

Jeong also emphasized his commitment to improving the bank's corporate compliance system.

"I will focus on fully overhauling the internal control system and reshaping the corporate culture to restore the trust we've lost due to recent financial incidents," the CEO candidate said. "By driving organizational innovation and performance-based personnel changes, we will strengthen the bank’s core competitiveness and rebuild Woori Bank as a trusted institution."

Jeong will undergo the final qualification evaluations by the bank's Executive Candidate Recommendation Committee in December and is set to be officially appointed at the shareholders' meeting in January, marking the start of his two-year term as CEO.

By Choi Ji-won (jwc@heraldcorp.com)