RoK banks expand presence in Southeast Asia

Seoul (VNA) - Banks of the Republic of Korea (RoK) have strengthened their foothold in Southeast Asia by opening more branches in the rapidly-growing market, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said.

The number of RoK bank outlets operating abroad, including corporate bodies, branches and offices, were 195 in 39 countries at the end of last year, up five from the previous year, according to the FSS.

The newly added operations are mostly located in Southeast Asian countries, including Indonesia and Vietnam.

Accordingly, 41.5 percent of the total number of 195 are based in Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand and the Philippines, and India.

The number of Korean banks' outlets in the nine countries increased to 81 at the end of 2019 from 75 at the end of 2017. Their combined total assets and net profits also jumped to 30.59 billion USD and 364.4 million USD, respectively, from 21.04 billion USD and 239 million USD during the same period of 2017.

Out of the total number of 195, Hana Bank has 35 operations overseas, the largest number among the Korean banks, followed by Woori Bank standing at 32, Shinhan Bank at 28, Exim Bank at 27, KDB Bank at 24, Industrial Bank of Korea at 15, Kookmin Bank at 14 and NongHyup Bank at eight./.