By Yi Whan-woo
Woori Financial Group announced on Friday that it nominated Woori Financial Capital CEO Cho Byung-kyu as the next leader of the group's flagship affiliate Woori Bank.
Cho's nomination comes a day after he was shortlisted as one of the two candidates for the post. The other candidate was Woori Bank Executive Vice Chief Lee Sok-tae./
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| Woori Bank CEO nominee Cho Byung-kyu / Courtesy of Woori Financial Group |
The group's executive recommendation committee said it finalized the selection of Cho after conducting a thorough screening process, including a business strategy presentation and interview.
Cho will begin his two-year term, if he receives confirmation from both shareholders and the board of directors during their meeting scheduled on July 3.
"We prioritized the sales competence of candidates in line with the group's business principles," the recommendation committee said in a press release. "Correspondingly, we highly valued Cho's experience and skills in sales, and especially his acumen in corporate banking."
The committee also expressed hope that the candidate will "draw out a new corporate culture."
It noted such culture "fell short of meeting the customers' standards," implicitly referring to poor internal regulatory control and risk management, which was attributed to last year's embezzlement case involving a bank employee.
As the potential CEO, Cho will be tasked with implementing Woori Financial Group Chairman Yim Jong-yong's drive for an organizational reshuffle and non-banking portfolio expansion.
Under the circumstances, Cho said he will "make utmost efforts to revive Woori Bank as a leading financial firm and accompany Chairman Yim faithfully to create a new corporate culture."
Cho, 55, mostly worked at Woori Bank before being named to lead Woori Capital, the group's auto financing service arm, in March 2023.
He built up his expertise in sales, strategy planning and management as he climbed the ladder after joining the bank in 1992.
He won an award from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups in December last year, in recognition of his contribution to tackling the liquidity shortage suffered by small and medium-sized businesses due to the pandemic.
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