CEO Jung Jin-wan calls business succession 'directly tied to supply chain stability'

43% of small and mid-sized firms yet to decide on succession method

500 successions projected to generate 469.9 billion won in production effects

Woori Bank President Jung Jin-wan delivers opening remarks at a press briefing on "productive business succession" held at the bank's headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Sunday. [Woori Bank]
Woori Bank President Jung Jin-wan delivers opening remarks at a press briefing on "productive business succession" held at the bank's headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Sunday. [Woori Bank]

Woori Bank President Jung Jin-wan said Sunday that business succession "is not simply a matter for one company — it is a critical economic issue directly tied to job preservation for employees, the protection of technological capabilities, and supply chain stability within industries."

Jung made the remarks at a press briefing on "productive business succession" held that morning at Woori Bank's headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul. He said the bank would "collaborate with Kim & Chang, Samil PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Korea Technology Finance Corporation to provide a one-stop solution encompassing legal, tax and financial services, and strengthen our role as a productive financial partner supporting the sustainable growth of businesses."

Woori Bank defines "productive business succession" as its one-stop support framework designed to secure employment stability for workers, reinforce supply chain stability within industries, and preserve the technological capabilities of small and medium-sized enterprises.

Through its Business Succession Support Center, Woori Bank has set a target of providing succession consulting to 500 companies per year — and more than 2,500 over the next five years — selected from among its client firms with strong employment and technology records. A bank official said the initiative aims "to significantly extend the average lifespan of Korean companies, which currently falls short of 30 years, and to help continuously nurture century-old enterprises with solid employment and technological foundations."

According to research by Woori Financial Research Institute, if Woori Bank successfully facilitates the succession of 100 companies per year over the next five years, the cumulative effect across 500 companies would include maintaining 10,000 jobs, preserving a sales base of 10.7 trillion won, generating production effects of 469.9 billion won, and creating value-added effects of 193.4 billion won.

Woori Bank established the Business Succession Support Center in February — the first dedicated succession unit at a Korean bank — staffed by specialists in accounting, taxation and mergers and acquisitions. The center has since signed MOUs with a total of 554 companies. Among the chief executives of those firms, 70.2 percent are between the ages of 50 and 69, and 20.5 percent are 70 or older, reflecting a clear aging trend. While 52.7 percent said they hope to pass the business to a family member, 43.7 percent have yet to decide on a succession method.

The briefing also featured case studies from Japanese financial firms on employee-led succession.

According to Woori Financial Research Institute, Japan's rate of companies without a designated successor has fallen for six consecutive years, dropping from 65.1 percent in 2020 to 50.1 percent in 2025. However, the country still faces a structural problem in which roughly 120,000 businesses nationwide cannot find a successor. Over the past decade, the share of family successions has declined while non-family transfers — including employee succession and M&A — have expanded. As of 2024, non-family succession including M&A accounted for 64 percent of all cases.

Amid this backdrop, Japanese financial firms have increasingly adopted business succession as a new business model. Mizuho Financial Group has expanded its succession support framework through a one-stop package combining loans, mezzanine financing, equity investment and trust services.

Im Jae-ho, a director at Woori Financial Research Institute, said Woori Bank should become "a responsible architect that leads the resolution of social issues in the domestic business succession market, just as Japanese financial firms have transformed the social challenge of successor shortages into a new financial business model."

Kim & Chang and Samil PricewaterhouseCoopers also shared strategies at the briefing, focusing on legal and tax risks that can arise in practice during the succession process and trends in the third-party M&A market.

Woori Bank signed a business succession cooperation MOU with Kim & Chang and Samil PwC at its headquarters in April. Under the agreement, the three parties plan to provide legal and tax advisory services related to business succession, jointly organize education programs and seminars for companies, and exchange research and information to advance the policy regime and market development.


hyuk@heraldcorp.com