Shinhan, Hana: South Korean premiere banks allegedly funding Myanmar military businesses

Shinhan Bank is the first bank in the history of South Korea, while Hana Bank is the fifth largest financial institution that is also the country’s largest foreign exchange bank. Apparently, both are reputable and important businesses, but these have recently been involved in a damaging controversy.

The Korea Herald reported that both Shinhan and Hana banks are allegedly financing Myanmar military-backed companies. The accusation placed them in a huge predicament as they are in the middle of an expansion.

The allegation against Shinhan

Based on the reports, Shinhan and Hana have been funding the Myanmar military. It was said that the institutions have been doing this indirectly by providing loans and investments to companies that have links to Myanmar’s army.

In an exclusive data that was obtained by The Korea Herald, it was stated that in September 2019, Shinhan Bank’s branch in Yangon located in Myanmar granted a loan to Myanmar Posco C&C, and this was worth $750,000 or KRW847 million.

It was said that the firm that was issued the loan is a joint venture of Posco Group’s Posco C&C and the Myanmar Economic Holdings (MEHL). The latter turned out to be one of the two corporations that are owned by the nation’s military.

This information about ownership is based on the data revealed by the activist group “Justice for Myanmar.” The activists also revealed that Myanmar Economic Corporation is the other company that is owned and being run by the army.

“Any Korean bank that provided loans to Posco is at risk of supporting Posco’s complicity in serious human rights violations in Myanmar,” Yadanar Maung, the spokesperson of Justice for Myanmar group, said in connection with the loan provided by Shinhan bank.

He added, “Shinhan Bank’s loan to the Myanmar military joint venture in 2019 was egregious, and we call on the bank to cut any other possible ties with the military-related businesses, which finance atrocity crimes in Myanmar.”

Hana Bank’s case related to indirect support to Myanmar’s army

The same activist group also called out Hana Bank for the same reason as Shinhan. They said that it has indirectly funded the country’s military as it has strong financial ties with the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam.

According to the group, this Vietnamese bank has been directly financing Mytel, a telecom operator in Myanmar that has links with the military. Justice for Myanmar is now calling on Shinhan and Hana Bank to cut their ties with companies affiliated with military-controlled businesses.

Meanwhile, the U.S. and Britain already blacklisted all Myanmar military-affiliated companies this week. The sanctions on the involved firms were imposed due to the deadly Feb. 1 coup that displayed despicable violence and abuses of the army to the whole world.