Woori Financial Group plans to channel 100 trillion won ($73.7 billion) into environmental, social and governance (ESG) financing by 2030, The Korea Herald reported Friday, as it backs South Korean businesses moving toward lower-carbon operations.
The Korea Herald reported that Woori’s cumulative ESG financing had reached 67 trillion won by the end of 2025. The group plans to direct additional corporate banking funds toward lower-carbon projects and green industries, the newspaper said. It linked the financing effort to South Korea’s government-led green transition.
Woori uses an artificial intelligence advisory service to check whether companies’ activities qualify under South Korea’s green taxonomy, a framework for classifying environmentally sustainable economic activity. The Korea Herald reported that the tool also helps streamline loan reviews.
Green loans from Woori Bank that met the taxonomy’s criteria totaled 1.8 trillion won as of September, The Korea Herald reported. That figure covers Woori Bank’s taxonomy-compliant loans; the 67 trillion won figure is Woori Financial Group’s cumulative ESG financing.
Woori Financial Group Chairman Yim Jong-yong and MSCI Chairman and CEO Henry Fernandez met at Woori’s Seoul headquarters Thursday, The Korea Herald reported. They discussed climate change and artificial intelligence’s effects on finance and how financial firms are responding.
Yim said the conversation gave the executives a chance to consider issues facing global finance. He said Woori would keep supporting companies as they move to lower-carbon operations and use AI to improve productivity, the newspaper reported.
