South Korea's financial authorities said Sunday that they have formed a team tasked with talks with sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East on the possible sale of its stake in Woori Bank.

The Seoul government has been trying to sell its 51.04 percent stake in the bank since 2010 in a bid to retrieve public funds worth 13 trillion won ($10.9 billion) spent to bail it out following the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s.

The Financial Services Commission said that it has decided to activate a team whose main task is to conduct negotiations with Middle East funds on the stake sale.

This move follows a visit by FSC Vice Chairman Jeong Chan-woo to the offices of three Middle East sovereign funds, including the Abu Dhabi Investment Council, which recently expressed its interest in buying a stake in Woori Bank.

During his stay there, he also explained the government's stance on the sale and methods by which it seeks to unload its holdings.

Last month, the FSC, the country's financial regulator, came up with a fresh plan to sell the government-held stake in Woori Bank, following four previous attempts that failed due to a lack of bidders. (Yonhap)