Woori Bank is a Korean multinational bank headquartered in Seoul. It is one of the four largest domestic banks in South Korea and has a strong presence in commercial banking and corporate finance in the Republic of Korea. Tracing its roots to the Daehan Cheon-il Bank, founded in 1899, it went through multiple transformations until adopting its current name in 2002. By then, it was South Korea's second-largest bank, behind Kookmin Bank. Woori Bank is known as the first South Korean bank to support web browsers other than Internet Explorer for online banking in Korea. As of 2020, Woori ranks 95th among the largest banks in the world in terms of total assets with 311,852 billion in USD as of the end of 2019.

History

Woori Bank traces its origins to the establishment of Daehan Cheon-il Bank in 1899, subsequently renamed Joseon Commercial Bank in 1911 and Korea Commercial Bank in 1950. Woori Bank's Jongno branch is located in the Gwangtonggwan building, which is considered the oldest continuously operating bank building in Korea. On March 5, 2001, the branch was registered as a Seoul City Historic Landmark. Following the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Korea Commercial Bank merged with Hanil Bank to become Hanvit Bank, simultaneously with a public capital injection that made the Korean government the dominant shareholder, then in 2001 with Peace Bank, and adopted the name Woori Bank in 2002. In 2014, after some amalgamation proceedings related to its parent company, Woori Bank absorbed Woori Financial Group. The privatization process was a protracted effort. The Korean government reduced its equity holding in Woori Bank in stages, selling a 29.7 percent block in November 2016, another 9.3 percent in November 2021, and its residual holding in March 2024.

Business

Branches

The following lists all major offices and branches. All data are as of the end of January 2018 for Overseas and June 2020 for South Korea.

Domestic

Overseas

In 2004, Woori Bank opened its Gaeseong Industrial Complex branch, in Gaeseong, North Korea, the first foreign bank to do so in North Korea. Woori Bank has operations in Bangladesh, India and Indonesia. On 14 March 2012, its Indonesian subsidiary, Bank Woori Indonesia, announced a plan to merge with a local bank, Bank Saudara. In April 2012, Woori Bank opened its first branch in India at Chennai.

Clientele

Woori Bank has major clientele from all over South Korea, including but not limited to: Samsung Electronics, CJ Group, Hanwha, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Yonsei University, and Korean University of Foreign Studies (HUFS).