Woori Financial kicks off bank chief succession process, with outcome expected in December

Woori Financial Group announced Wednesday that it has convened its subsidiary CEO candidate recommendation committee and formally launched the succession process for the bank's top post.

The group's committee has been reviewing the overall succession framework and has now decided to overhaul the process — most notably by significantly expanding the role of Woori Bank's own executive nomination committee.

Under the revamped system, Woori Financial has added a management performance review step to the bank's executive nomination committee's mandate. External specialist firms will also participate, verifying management results not only through internal review but from a market perspective as well. The bank's executive nomination committee already held the authority to recommend candidates for the bank president role, and the latest reform is expected to expand that role further.

The group said it will establish clear criteria and procedures for each key stage of the succession process in advance to ensure fairness and objectivity in the selection. Whether incumbent Woori Bank President Jeong Jin-wan will be reappointed is expected to become clear in early December.

"Appointing the heads of subsidiaries, including the bank president, is an extremely important decision that determines the future of Woori Financial Group," a company official said. "We plan to faithfully carry out the succession process based on the significantly improved procedures and select the most qualified candidate based on management capability."

The overhaul is widely seen as a response to a call for fairness from Financial Supervisory Service Director Lee Chan-jin. At a meeting with the heads of eight major banking groups on Thursday of last week, Lee said the succession process must be made more rigorous, urging them to "select the most capable and qualified person without being swayed by factional ties or personal relationships."