Daehan Cheon-il Bank, sometimes transcribed as Daehancheonil Bank, was the first viable domestic joint-stock bank in Korea, established in 1899. In its early years it was one of only two Korean-owned Western-style banks,[1] together with the Hanseong Bank (est. 1897). In 1911 it was renamed Chōsen Commercial Bank (, also transcribed as Joseon Sangup Bank), then in 1950 Korea Commercial Bank.
By the 1990s, Korea Commercial Bank was still one of the five most prominent banks in South Korea, alongside Chohung Bank, Korea First Bank, Hanil Bank, and Seoul Bank.[2] It suffered from the 1997 Asian financial crisis, however, and was eventually merged with Hanil Bank to form Woori Bank.
Background
Modern financial development in Korea started with the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876 and the subsequent entry into the country of joint-stock Japanese banks, which themselves had only been established in the course of that same decade.