Kookmin Bank is accelerating its major manpower restructuring , transferring 219 underperforming employees to an extra department designed for retraining . A certain portion of them will likely face dismissal or be pressured to quit if they fail to reach a certain level of performance within about two years , an official of the nation ’ s largest bank said Tuesday . The employees at the department are obliged to take on lessons for six months . Those who will show improvement and potential will be entitled to be replaced at regular departments . Since the bank conducted a restructuring last November that led the bank to lay off more than 3 , 200 of its approximately 26 , 000 employees , its moves to increase productivity have continued . Kookmin ’ s senior officials , including CEO Min Byong - deok , have stressed that productivity has been lowered due to widespread inefficiency in the overall sector and management indices have continued to worsen . They said the bank has reached a critical situation under which it cannot provide foreign investors with confidence about the bank ’ s future . Min said in November that the nation ’ s No . 1 bank may be demoted to the second bracket if it settles for the status quo . “ We are standing at a significant crossroads , whether to make a new leap forward or to become a second - class bank , ” Min said in his speech to commemorate the ninth anniversary of the bank ’ s foundation . It is undeniable that Kookmin failed to cope with the rapidly changing situation over the past 10 years , he said . The bank ’ s parent company KB Financial Group is expediting efforts to reshape its credit card unit , which will be spun off from Kookmin Bank in the first quarter . The separation is a key enterprise of group chairman Euh Yoon - dae to improve the profitability of the struggling banking titan . KB Card is likely to be launched as early as March after a regulatory endorsement . The financial group had planned to move about 1 , 300 employees to KB Card . A group spokesman said the number of applicants for movement was 1 , 670 , far more than earlier expected . They include 1 , 200 full - time and 470 contract workers . By Kim Yon - se ( kys @ heraldm . com )