Chapter 203: The Crack Begins from Within (7)

Three days passed as Woojin Bank struggled.

Hyunjun stood by the window and drank his coffee.

After swallowing a sip of the steaming coffee, he slowly turned his gaze outside.

The city center before the morning sunlight had fully spread.

Cars hurried between the buildings.

The world was still an ordinary morning.

But in his eyes, he could see how this board would unfold.

He heard the door open.

“Representative Lim.”

Director Choi Seo-jun entered and spoke while looking at the screen of his tablet.

“It is about Woojin Bank.”

Hyunjun exchanged a brief greeting.

Choi Seo-jun opened his mouth as if displeased.

“They are holding out longer than I expected.”

“The settlement hold has dragged on, but they have not completely collapsed yet. Woojin Bank itself is also quite large. The government will not easily draw the sword either.”

After taking a sip of coffee, Hyunjun smiled lightly.

“Still, they will not last long.”

The words were filled with certainty.

“Yes? Hmm. Do you think so?”

Hyunjun’s gaze was still directed outside the window.

“A bank survives on trust. It operates not because it has money, but because there is faith in it.”

He tilted his head slightly.

“A bank whose settlement channel has been blocked may look fine on the outside, but on the inside, its throat must already be tightening.”

Choi Seo-jun asked cautiously.

“Then when do you think it will happen, Representative Lim?”

For a moment, silence continued in the office.

But it did not last long. Hyunjun lifted his cup and drank his coffee.

“A reaction will come soon. Since about three days have passed, the press must have caught the scent, and the government must be watching closely as well.”

At that moment, an alert sounded from Choi Seo-jun’s tablet. He turned on the tablet screen, checked something, and then showed it to Hyunjun.

[Woojin Bank’s dollar settlement delays prolong. The government also recognizes the situation as serious.]

Hyunjun glanced at the phrase, then looked at Director Choi Seo-jun and said.

“See? I told you it would not take long.”

Even as he said that, his voice was astonishingly calm.

“From now on, the bank will not be able to hold out. The market will not let it.”

The scenery outside the window was still peaceful.

But beneath it, the invisible crack called Woojin Bank was growing larger and larger.

That crack would soon be ready to collapse from within.

There was not just one article on the portal’s main page. Articles surrounding Woojin Bank began pouring out one after another in less than half a day.

[Woojin Bank dollar settlement disruptions prolonged. Damage spreading among import and export companies.]

[Financial authorities closely monitor market stability. Inspection of foreign exchange settlement risk begins.]

For now, the wording was still cautious. But the articles that followed were enough to instill a sense of crisis in people.

[Hanmyeong Group. Suspends foreign exchange transactions with Woojin Bank. Risk management measure.]

[Cheongshin Group is also reviewing transaction reduction. Ripples across the financial sector.]

Choi Seo-jun, who had been sitting on the sofa and flipping through the tablet screen, raised his head.

“Representative Lim, this is a little strange.”

Hyunjun walked from the window to the sofa and sat down.

He looked at the screen and understood what Choi Seo-jun was talking about.

“Normally, even the bank would try to keep something like this quiet. If a contract termination or transaction reduction becomes known through the press, the impact will be large. But if it comes out this quickly…. Could someone be touching it?”

“…….”

Hanmyeong Group and Cheongshin Group had settled their transactions with Woojin. Their stated reasons were the same. Preemptive risk management. And securing foreign exchange settlement stability. But the market would receive it this way.

If major corporations have moved, does that not mean it is dangerous?

That signal spread far too quickly.

In truth, the companies had no choice but to do so.

It was too late to move after the loss had been confirmed.

The correct answer was to get out before the problem grew larger.

On the screens of Woojin Bank’s Corporate Finance department, familiar names began disappearing one by one.

Funds flowed out of major corporate accounts, and midsized companies followed behind them.

They said it was only a temporary measure, claiming they were moving only part of their deposits, but funds that had once left did not return.

And the news was quickly delivered through articles.

[Woojin Bank. Signs of major corporate fund outflows. Financial sector tense.]

[Corporate deposit transfers accelerate. Anxiety spreads among individual customers.]

Now individual customers also began to move one by one.

Lines formed in front of branch counters, and even the mobile app was flooded with access attempts.

The mobile app barely opened, but its speed was noticeably slow.

It stopped on the login screen and would not move to the next page.

Even when users managed to log in, only the loading icon spun endlessly on the transfer button.

Woojin Bank’s call center was already paralyzed.

Calls connected only after the waiting time exceeded thirty minutes. And so what if they connected? The answer that came back was always the same.

“We are currently checking. Please wait just a little longer.”

But people did not wait.

Around lunchtime, lines began forming in front of branch counters.

At first, there were more elderly people.

They were people who rarely used the mobile app.

They talked anxiously among themselves.

“The news keeps talking about it, so how can I sit still without worrying?”

“What if I cannot withdraw my money?”

Anxiety quickly spread like an infection.

The counter employees tried to explain calmly, but that was not what people wanted.

They wanted cash in their hands immediately.

By late afternoon, the atmosphere grew even more hostile.

As the mobile app kept malfunctioning, people gradually gathered at the bank.

The branches instantly turned into scenes of chaos.

What they said was mostly the same.

“Please withdraw my entire deposit.”

“Please transfer it to another bank.”

The employees’ faces hardened.

Behind the counters, the branch manager quietly moved between the employees and whispered.

“Try to adjust it so it does not exceed the limit. We must not make the atmosphere worse.”

But this was not an atmosphere that would die down just because he said that.

That evening’s news set fire to it.

“Customers continue to visit some Woojin Bank branches.

The bank has stated that there is no issue with liquidity.”

The screen showed the line stretched out in front of a branch exactly as it was.

People raise their voices in front of the counters.

Employees working with phones pressed to their ears.

Those images followed one after another.

That one scene was enough.

Even late at night, the number of users accessing Woojin Bank’s mobile app surged to several times the usual level.

Login error messages appeared repeatedly.

Some users could not even access it at all.

Because of that, impatience settled in people’s hearts.

The next day, as soon as the branches opened, people flocked to every Woojin Bank branch.

Branches in the provinces were no exception.

Long lines formed even in front of small branches that were usually quiet.

Now, this was no longer only a problem for individuals.

Small trading companies and small and medium-sized manufacturers also began to move.

The fact that major corporations had pulled out had already spread through the industry.

“If we do not move it even now….”

“Let us move it first and see. You never know.”

The deposit outflow gained speed. Fund managers visited Woojin Bank.

As a result, anxiety among Woojin Bank employees continued to rise.

Because they could actually feel the decline in balances, the funds they could move had also decreased significantly.

Even at the counters, cash reserves were nearly revealing the bottom.

Headquarters went so far as to check the withdrawal pace by branch on a minute-by-minute basis.

The air in the conference room sank heavily.

“At this pace, we will not last much longer.”

“The withdrawal of Hanmyeong Group and Cheongshin Group last time was far too big.”

Manager Kim Ji-hoon spoke quietly.

“We have already passed the stage where this can be stopped.”

It was from that moment on.

The words attached to the name Woojin Bank began to change.

Until then, they had been busy making excuses that it was a temporary disruption, but now even trust had collapsed.

The crack was spreading to a size that could no longer be hidden.

Even so, the inside of Woojin Bank could not find its way.

To be precise, Kang Do-yun could not.

He called in the executives day after day.

Meetings were held every day, but the conclusion was always the same.

“Why are the reports this late? You should be controlling the branches properly. Who is taking responsibility for the media response?”

Only reprimands went back and forth, and no direction emerged for how to resolve the situation.

The branches had already let go as well. With vague instructions coming from headquarters, what could they possibly do?

The orders that came down every time were only this.

“Externally, say that we are stable, but internally, delay cash outflows as much as possible! Do not provoke corporate customers, and persuade individual customers while holding out.”

It was an impossible order that did not consider the field at all. Heo Sang-gyu ran around in all directions while answering dozens of calls pouring in every day.

Branch managers, Corporate Finance personnel, call center managers, and outside parties all sought him out. But now, he had no answer either.

What could he do when there was no longer a way to stop it? Team Leader Jo Chang-seop, who usually followed Heo Sang-gyu, said.

“Vice President, at this point, is it not effectively a bank run?”

At those words, Heo Sang-gyu could not answer.

Even if he wanted to deny it, the numbers were speaking.

Fund outflows did not stop, and the foreign exchange settlement channel was still blocked.

Kang Do-yun called Heo Sang-gyu in.

“Vice President Heo, what should we do now?”

It sounded as if he were asking for help, but in his own way, it was a method of shifting responsibility.

Heo Sang-gyu chose his words for a moment, then answered honestly.

“There is almost nothing we can do at the bank level. We may be able to buy time now, but I do not think we can change the direction.”

Kang Do-yun’s face stiffened.

“Then are you saying it really is over?”

Heo Sang-gyu lowered his head and said,

“If this state continues, the market will make the judgment.”

Just as he thought, the judgment came quickly.

The same words began to emerge from inside and outside the financial sector.

Voices grew louder saying that standalone survival would be difficult at this point, and that it had to be reorganized before market anxiety grew even larger.

The tone of the press also changed.

[Woojin Bank crisis. This is not a simple liquidity problem!]

[Structural solutions such as sale or merger are necessary!]

Now even open talk of handing it over began to emerge.

The logic was that, in order to save the bank, it had to be placed in someone else’s hands.

At last, the government moved.

In internal meetings of the financial authorities, Woojin Bank was no longer merely a target to be watched. It had been classified as a risk that had to be managed.

“If this is left as it is, it will spread into systemic risk.”

“Woojin Bank alone is not the problem. The entire financial sector could be shaken.”

The conclusion was clear.

A situation in which the government had no choice but to step in.

A call that was practically a notification went to Bank President Kang Do-yun.

Along with the instruction to keep even the possibility of replacing management open, they conveyed that if necessary, they would also review business restrictions.

Kang Do-yun’s hand trembled as he put down the phone. This was no longer a matter of choice. He no longer had the initiative.

Even in the market, words like this began to circulate.

“Should they not split Woojin Bank apart and leave only the shell?”

“They might separate only the good assets and hand them over.”

It was the irony of abandoning the bank in order to save the bank.

But the market judged not with emotion, but with numbers.

Now, the name Woojin Bank would no longer be protected. And in that opening, someone who had been holding their breath while watching for a chance quietly raised their head.