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With bank unionists highly likely to vote for a nationwide strike, opposing the government's plan to restructure the banking sector through the proposed financial holding company act, top financial regulators yesterday reaffirmed that there would be no job cuts following consolidations.

The outcome of the vote, where unions at 20 of the 24 domestic banks participated, is to be announced today. Officials of the Korea Federation of Bank and Financial Labor Unions (KFBU) confidently said a large majority of its members would vote for the strike slated to start July 11.

Fearing the devastating impact of the bank stoppage, government officials tried to persuade union leaders, reassuring that bank restructuring will not entail branch closures or job cuts.

"Although banks which received public funds are to be consolidated, there will be no job cuts at all," said Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Chairman Lee Yong-keun during a meeting with presidents of 14 local banks in downtown Seoul yesterday morning.

Pointing out that the unionists are resorting to extreme measures due to a lack of understanding in the intentions of the proposed holding company act, Lee stressed that the bill is meant to create synergies through bank integration under one holding firm rather than through mergers.

He added that the Tripartite Commission of Labor, Business and Government Thursday agreed to form a panel to discuss the matter.

The chief watchdog also urged bank presidents to do their best to prevent possible work stoppage, since "financial chaos caused by the strike would deal a serious blow to the national economy." He hinted that bank heads failing to do so would be held responsible.

Critics, however, challenged his promise of no job cuts. "The purpose of restructuring is to boost efficiency. Without downsizing, restructuring will hardly be successful," said Park Duk-bae, an analyst at Hana Economic Research Institute.

Meanwhile, demanding that President Kim Dae-jung promise no forced bank mergers, some 5,000 unionized bank workers went to the polls to vote for or against the walkout.

The result of the vote will likely be available early this morning, a KFBU official said. The federation represents some 80 percent of the workforce in the local financial sector.

Expecting overwhelming support for the strike from union members, KFBU leaders said that this time their strike will be powerful, unlike that of September 1998, when protests against bank closures and massive layoffs in the wake of Korea's worst economic crisis fizzled out.

Authorities and bank management are perplexed by the expected level of the planned strike as union executives are showing unprecedented militancy, having raised some 10 billion won in their war chest and attempting to gain control of bank computer networks.

In yesterday's ballot, unionists at 20 of the 24 local banks participated. Unionist employees at Hana Bank and KorAm Bank decided not to participate in the July 11 general strike, saying their banks are unlikely to be affected by the proposed financial holding company act.

Recently, the two banks concluded a comprehensive business tie-up accord, which analysts said was a prelude toward an ultimate merger.

The union of Shinhan and Korea First banks decided to delay the vote to Thursday, saying no consensus has been formed on the strike among their members.

Besides these banks, a few regional banks such as Cheju Bank were expected to refrain from participating in the strike.

But KFBU officials said they wouldn't have any problem to begin the strike as scheduled.

Meanwhile, the ruling Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) opposed any plan to merge Cho Hung, Hanvit and Korea Exchange Banks, all three of which have received a large amount of public funds for restructuring, a senior MDP official said.

"Such a merger is undesirable and we will oppose any attempt to do that," the official said.

The party does not believe the forced merger of the three banks will prove effective, he said. "Such a drastic method will be undesirable at this stage."

The MDP delivered its position to Finance and Economy Minister Lee Hun-jai during a joint meeting yesterday of ruling party lawmakers of the parliamentary committee on finance and economy and government officials.

"The situation now is different from that of two years ago, when the first round of financial restructuring was undertaken under the control of the International Monetary Fund," said Chung Sye-kyun, head of the second policy coordination committee of the MDP.