TOKYO (Standard&Poor's) April 18, 2007--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services today assigned its 'BBB' rating to Woori Bank's (A-/Stable/A-2) proposed hybrid Tier I debt securities. The two-notch differential between the ratings on Woori Bank (Woori) and the proposed securities reflects the bank's ability to defer interest payments on the securities, their deeply subordinated status, the overall financial status of Woori, and the terms and conditions of the issuance. The securities contain both optional and mandatory conditions that either allow or obligate the bank to skip interest payments in certain situations. If Woori and its subsidiaries neither pay nor take measures to pay common stock dividends during particular periods stipulated in the proposed securities' covenants, the bank may choose to
