Kim Jeong-gi, Woori Financial Vice President, Appointed as CEO of Woori Card

Woori Card, Aju Capital, Woori FIS, and Research Institute Recommend Next CEO Candidates
Holding Company and Bank Holding Company Executive Teams Reduced by 4, Departments Slimmed Down by 5 for Organizational Streamlining

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyo-jin] Woori Financial Group announced on the 18th that its subsidiary CEO candidate recommendation committee (hereinafter Woori Financial Subcommittee) held a meeting and recommended candidates for the next CEOs of Woori Card, Aju Capital, Woori FIS, and Woori Financial Research Institute.

The Woori Financial Subcommittee consists of a total of seven members, including Woori Financial Chairman Sohn Tae-seung and six outside directors.

The Woori Financial Subcommittee recommended Kim Jeong-gi, current Vice President of Business Management Division at Woori Financial Group, as the next CEO candidate for Woori Card; Park Kyung-hoon, current Vice President of Finance Division at Woori Financial Group, as the next CEO candidate for Aju Capital; Kim Seong-jong, current Head of IT Group at Woori Bank, as the next CEO candidate for Woori FIS; and reappointed Choi Gwang-hae as CEO of Woori Financial Research Institute.

Additionally, through slimming down the holding company and the bank’s organizations, they aim for a "small and strong organization" while simultaneously strengthening group-level management and synergy. Digital innovation will be accelerated by concurrently holding positions in the bank, and sales-related organizations will undergo innovative restructuring and executive appointments to maximize sales capabilities.

In particular, the plan is to simplify the organizational structure starting from the holding company to enhance the efficiency and speed of the entire group. The current ‘7 divisions - 2 departments - 5 general managers’ system will be slimmed down to ‘8 divisions - 2 departments,’ and five departments will be reduced through consolidation. While increasing operational efficiency, the responsibility and authority of executives will be clarified to strengthen work execution capabilities.

Furthermore, the "digital first" policy will be reinforced by strengthening customer-centric digital platform competitiveness. A new Business Growth Division will be established, under which the Synergy Promotion Department and Business Portfolio Department will be placed to further activate nurturing and synergy tasks for newly incorporated subsidiaries within the group.

Along with this, to improve the efficiency of managing the group’s key businesses, the Asset Management, Global, and CIB business divisions will be abolished, and their tasks will be integrated and performed by the Business Growth Division.

In this organizational restructuring, Woori Financial plans to strengthen the holding company’s role as a control tower for group-level Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) management and brand management. To fully launch ESG management with the announcement of the group’s new vision early next year, a dedicated ESG Management Department will be established, and the holding company’s Brand Strategy Department will be separated from the Public Relations Office to enhance brand value.

Woori Bank Reduces Three Business Groups and Cuts Executives

Meanwhile, Woori Bank has also significantly slimmed down its organization by reducing three business groups and cutting the number of executives, while boldly restructuring to enhance efficiency in line with the introduction of the joint sales system VG (Value Group) to maximize sales power in 2021.

First, the ‘Sales/Digital Group’ will be newly established to increase the linkage between digital innovation and sales and strengthen both face-to-face and non-face-to-face sales capabilities. Additionally, related business groups have been integrated to enable efficient marketing on the ground in accordance with the newly introduced joint sales system VG.

To this end, the Personal Group and Institutional Group have been merged into the ‘Personal & Institutional Group,’ with the Real Estate Finance Team placed under it, and the Corporate Group and SME Group have been merged into the ‘Corporate Group,’ with the Foreign Exchange Business Team placed under it.

Moreover, the HR Group and Business Support Group have been integrated into a newly established ‘Management Support Group’ to improve organizational efficiency, and the head office organization has been significantly slimmed down, reducing the number of executives by three.

A Woori Financial Group official said, “The holding company and the bank have boldly restructured with a focus on slimming down the organization. The holding company aims to strengthen digital competitiveness, synergy, ESG management, and brand value that require integrated group-level management, while the bank intends to maximize sales power through innovation in sales-related head office organizations.”

They also stated that by proactively responding to company-wide cost reduction planned for next year, they will improve organizational efficiency, strengthen organic cooperation among group companies, and greatly contribute to creating a sustainable society through practicing social responsibility management.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.