Woori privatization plan losing momentum Posted : 2021-03-07 15:01 Updated : 2021-03-07 18:34 Woori Financial Group Chairman Son Tae-seung delivers a speech during the group's management strategy meeting at its headquarters in Seoul on Jan. 17. Yonhap By Lee Min-hyung Woori Financial Group's planned privatization has hit another snag after its recent decision to reduce dividend payouts. Last year, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) was supposed to start selling part of the government's 17.25-percent stake in the financial holding firm aiming to achieve Woori's 100-percent privatization by the end of 2022. But the state-run Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation, which holds ownership of Woori with the stake, did not sell any of it last year, as Woori's stock price failed to bounce back to levels that met the government's expectations due to the coronavirus outbreak. The corporation's earlier plan was to start selling Woori shares sometime in the first half of 2020, but it ended up retracting the plan amid Woori's dismal stock performance.