Woori Bank CEO Cho Byung-kyu attends a conference in central Seoul on June 19, after revealing a major embezzlement case. (Yonhap)

Woori Bank CEO Cho Byung-kyu will step down when his current term ends on Dec. 31, as its board reportedly decided not to appoint the chief executive for another term following a major loan scandal.

The decision was made last Friday during a board meeting, according to media reports.

Woori Bank has been under fire after the Financial Supervisory Service discovered in August that the bank granted 61.6 billion won ($44.2 million) in loans to borrowers with ties to Woori’s former chairman Son Tae-seung, who held the top job from January 2019 until March last year.

Of the total, 35 billion won were found to have been improperly granted without proper screening.

Although Cho has not been directly involved in issuing the loans, he is currently under investigation for breaching reporting obligations by delaying the notification of the inappropriate practices to financial authorities.

Meanwhile, prosecutors sought an arrest warrant for former chairman Son on Friday for an alleged breach of duty. Son reportedly denied the accusation against him during an investigation called from Wednesday to Thursday.

BY SHIN HA-NEE ([email protected])