Woori Financial picks new CEO for banking unit

SEOUL, May 26 (Yonhap) -- Woori Financial Group, a major South Korean banking group, said Friday that it has selected the head of its nonbanking financial firm as the new CEO for its flagship banking unit.

Cho Byung-kyu, head of Woori Financial Capital Co., is set to begin his term as Woori Bank's CEO if approved at the Woori Bank general shareholders' meeting on July 3. His term is set to end by the end of 2024.

Cho joined then Commercial Bank of Korea, the predecessor of Woori Bank, in 1992 and rose up the corporate ladder over the past three decades at Woori Bank before becoming the head of Woori Financial Capital in March.

Woori Bank, a major South Korean lender by assets, is a wholly owned flagship unit of Woori Financial.

The South Korean government had previously owned a controlling 51 percent stake in Woori Financial through the state-run Korea Deposit Insurance Corp., a legacy of the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.

Currently, Korea Deposit Insurance holds a 1.29 percent stake in Woori Financial after a series of stake sales.

nyway@yna.co.kr
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