Govt. recoups W2.2tr of public funds via Woori sale

By KH디지털2

Published : Feb. 28, 2017 - 17:48

The South Korean government said Tuesday it recouped 2.24 trillion won ($2 billion) of bailout funds, mostly used to help financial companies reeling from the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, in the fourth quarter of last year.

The retrieval of taxpayers' money came mostly from the sale of Woori Bank, a major lender here, according to the Financial Services Commission.

The headquarters of Woori Bank in central Seoul. (Yonhap)

The state-run Korea Deposit Insurance Corp. sold its 29.7-percent stake in the bank to seven institutional investors.

The KDIC retains around a 30-percent stake.

The government has extended a total of 168.7 trillion won in bailout funds between November 1997 and December 2016, with 114.3 trillion won, or 67.8 percent retrieved. (Yonhap)