Eun Sung-soo: "Woori Financial Group's Full Privatization Direction to Be Set at the Public Administration Committee on the 22nd"

Eun Sung-soo, Chairman of the Financial Services Commission (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyo-jin] Eun Sung-soo, Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, said on the 11th regarding Woori Financial Group's 'complete privatization,' "We will be able to set the direction while discussing with the members at the Public Fund Management Committee on the 22nd."

Chairman Eun made this remark in response to reporters' questions about the timing and conditions of Woori Financial's share sale during a press briefing on key tasks for the second half of this year held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, in the afternoon.

He explained, "Originally, we planned to attempt the (sale) in the first half of the year, but the stock price was very poor," adding, "I considered whether it is more important to keep the promise despite the falling stock price or to recover a certain amount of the public funds since public funds are the people's taxes."

The government announced last year a plan to start the first round of share sales in the first half of this year and to conduct two to three rounds of dispersed sales over three years until 2022 for the remaining shares of Woori Financial. However, due to the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the stock price dropped significantly, and discussions did not gain momentum. The government holds 17.25% of Woori Financial's shares through the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Regarding the current situation where negotiations for HDC Hyundai Development Company's acquisition of Asiana Airlines have effectively returned to square one, Chairman Eun said, "From both sides' perspectives, there are understandable parts," and expressed the policy authorities' hope that "the uncertainty will end quickly." He also mentioned, "I think it would be good for the two parties (HDC Hyundai Development and the Korea Development Bank) to meet and have a dialogue first."

On the issue of injecting the Industrial Stabilization Fund into Asiana Airlines, which has been hit hard by COVID-19, Chairman Eun stated, "It must be a complete M&A (merger and acquisition)," and added, "The fund should be injected only after the M&A is completed." Chairman Eun's position is that it is somewhat ambiguous for the fund to be injected during the intermediate stages of the acquisition process.

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