Woori Bank issued a total of 300 billion won in Korean green bonds on May 8. The issuance came through the "Korean Green Bond Issuance Interest Subsidy Program," and was split into 150 billion won with a three-year maturity and 150 billion won with a one-year maturity. It is the first Korean green bond issued by a commercial bank in 2026, and the largest single issuance as well. The proceeds will go entirely to solar and wind energy production and waste-to-energy recovery projects.
Woori Bank's Korean green bond issuance totals 600 billion won on a cumulative basis (as of May 2026), adding this 300 billion won to 150 billion won in 2024 and 150 billion won in 2025. On a cumulative basis since 2022, that is understood to be the largest amount in the banking sector. This issuance was carried out as part of "NEXT ESG," the ESG management strategy established in 2026, and "NEXT 50," a set of 50 detailed action tasks.
Across the banking sector as a whole, ESG bond issuance is concentrated in one place. Of the 1.81 trillion won in ESG bonds issued by the three commercial banks KB Kookmin, Shinhan and Woori in 2025, Woori Bank accounted for 1.56 trillion won, while Hana Bank issued none. In 2026, Woori Bank is the only one of the four major commercial banks to have issued ESG bonds (based on Korea Exchange figures as of May 13). Woori Bank's ESG bond issuance in 2026 stands at 500 billion won.
Widened out over time, the downward trend is clearer. ESG bond issuance by the four major banks peaked at 2.225 trillion won in 2021, then fell to 696 billion won in 2022 and 550 billion won in 2023. With issuers not spread out, it is hard to speak of market expansion on the basis of totals alone.
Korean green bonds restrict the use of proceeds to projects that conform to the Korean Green Taxonomy (K-Taxonomy). They must undergo a conformity assessment by an institution designated by the Ministry of Environment, and reporting obligations apply even after the funds are spent. The K-Taxonomy is a green finance guideline the government released in 2022.
The groundwork supporting such screening also moved in the same month. The Korea Credit Information Services launched a pilot service of the K-Taxonomy-based "Climate Finance Web Portal" on May 14. It provides a system that sorts out which projects are classified as green so that banks can use it in loan reviews, and it brings together corporate environmental information such as green certifications and environmental technologies in one place. The plan is to keep refining the screening standards by taking in opinions from the financial sector during the pilot period.
Even as issuance grows, if the common standard for what counts as a green project wavers, individual financial companies bear the verification costs. The fact that screening tools are coming down to the loan review stage suggests that the focus of evaluation in green finance may shift from issuance volume to where the money goes. It has not been settled what force the web portal's screening results carry in actual reviews and conformity assessments.
The interest terms of this issuance and the size of the interest subsidy have not been disclosed. It is worth watching whether commercial banks other than Woori Bank move to issue in the second half of 2026, and how far the screening standards are spelled out when the Climate Finance Web Portal moves beyond the pilot stage into a full service. Only when issuance across the banking sector grows and screening standards are refined along with it can the actual breadth of green finance be gauged.
