Woori celebrates 200th overseas branch opening

Woori Bank celebrated the opening of 200th overseas branch on Thursday, widening the scope of Korean financial industries on the foreign soil.

“The opening of 200th global branch is the fruit of Woori’s successful adaptation to financial environments of different countries,” Woori Bank president Lee Kwang-goo said at a launching ceremony in Seoul for the new branch in Myanmar.

The ceremony was attended by Financial Services Commission chairman Yim Jong-yong, Korea Deposit Insurance Corp. president Gwak Bum-gook, Myanmar Ambassador to Korea U Soe Lwin and leaders of financial industries.

Since the launch of its first foreign branch in Tokyo in November 1968, Woori Bank has opened 200 branches. The most recent opened in Myanmar after obtaining a license in microfinance there.

Woori Bank plans to expand the number of overseas branches to 300 by next year, and 500 by 2020, partly through aggressive mergers and acquisitions in Southeast Asia, including in Vietnam, India, the Philippines and Cambodia.

The South Korean lender also vowed to change its expansion strategy, from numerical branch expansion to bundling up the banking operation with Woori’s mobile-focused WeBee Bank and Woori Card.

Woori seeks to secure sources of tangible profit by developing global financial technology and providing both online and offline services.

By Chung Joo-won (joowonc@heraldcorp.com)