Woori Bank Hit by Fourth Financial Incident This Year

A fourth financial incident occurred at Woori Bank this year, raising red flags regarding the trustworthiness of the financial sector. The incident occurred due to an external party submitting false documents, with the scale reaching 2.5 billion KRW.

Woori Bank disclosed this incident through a public notice on the 15th.

The incident occurred on March 14th, and the expected loss amount has not yet been determined.

According to a bank official, "The property seller and buyer signed a side contract without notifying the bank, which led to the loan amount exceeding the actual sale price."

The bank conducted an investigation based on an internal report and confirmed the incident. It is currently preparing to file criminal charges against the borrower.

This year alone, Woori Bank has faced four financial incidents, raising concerns among financial consumers and within the industry. In June, a 10 billion KRW embezzlement incident by an employee at a branch in the Gyeongnam region led to the replacement of the bank's compliance officer.

In August, controversy arose when a 16.5 billion KRW improper loan involving a relative of former Woori Financial Group Chairman Sohn Tae-seung was belatedly disclosed.

In September, a similar financial incident occurred where an external party submitted false documents, leading to a 5.5 billion KRW loss.

With such incidents occurring in succession, criticism of Woori Bank's internal control and risk management systems has been mounting.

Regarding the repeated financial incidents, experts in the financial sector have pointed out, "Strengthening internal systems and taking proactive measures to prevent incidents are necessary."

In particular, there is a demand for improvements to the system to thoroughly check external factors such as the submission of false documents.

Woori Bank has promised to strengthen compliance monitoring and internal audits to prevent recurrence, but restoring the trust of financial consumers seems likely to take considerable time due to the series of incidents.


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Woori Bank Hit by Fourth Financial Incident This Year