Major financial groups are accelerating efforts to turn North Jeolla Province into a financial hub, with Woori Financial Group joining KB and Shinhan in expanding infrastructure and investment in the southwestern region, market watchers said Thursday. Woori said it will establish key affiliates including asset management, banking and insurance arms to help the province become a financial center under the Lee Jae Myung administration’s “balanced growth” drive. Central to the initiative is Jeonju, the city where the headquarters of the state-run National Pension Service (NPS) is located. Woori plans to increase its workforce there to more than 300 from the current 200, including staff at Woori Bank, the NPS’s main trading partner bank. Woori Asset Management will open a Jeonju office to strengthen ties with the NPS and to expand regional networks. They will also launch an internship program for university students in the region. Woori Bank will establish a specialized corporate finance service channel, dubbed the “Jeonbuk BIZ Prime Center,” to support advanced strategic industrie