South Korean banks embark on hiring spree amidst thawing Northern ties

KB Kookmin Bank is looking for a North Korean affairs specialist to support this endeavor.

As economic relations between the two Koreas warm, South Korean lenders are rushing to beef up their respective North Korean teams in order to tap into possible business opportunities following the closer collaboration, reports Nikkei Asian Review. 

Also read: Korean banks secure clearance to expand foothold in India

KB Kookmin Bank, for instance, has posted on its site that it is looking for a North Korean affairs specialist who can help in preparing the bank’s economic projects in Pyongyang. Industrial Bank of Korea is also adding an expert to its North Korean Economy Research Center to study economic projects on the northern part of the peninsula.

"We want to be prepared in advance as inter-Korean relations are improving fast," Lee Yoon-ki, a spokesperson for KB Kookmin told Nikkei Asian Review.  

Also read: Korean banks flock to Vietnam

KEB Hana Bank is also said to be seeking the establishment of a task force which will study the politics, economics and society of North Korea whilst Woori Bank similarly launched a task force on support for inter-Korean financial cooperation which reportedly opened talks on reopening its branch in the now-shuttered industrial complex Kaesong in North Korea.

State-run Export-Import Bank of Korea is also doubling efforts to boost research on North Korea through the expansion of think tanks and formation of new research bodies.

The two Koreas held a historic summit in late April, adopting a joint declaration working toward the complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula and ending the Korean War.

Photo from Jimmy McIntyre - Editor HDR One Magazine - Seoul Cityscape From the Sky Park, CC BY-SA 2.0