"The government is highly likely to impose business suspension on the Seoul branch," the official told Yonhap News Agency. "A rough direction has been made inside the government, but it further needs consultation with other government agencies and reviews."
If the local bank branch is slapped with the decision, its operations, including loan issuance, deposit taking, trade financing and money remittance, will come to a halt for a certain period of time.
"The government has yet to determine when the final decision to sanction the Seoul branch of Bank Mellat will be made, but it won't take long," another government official said.
