Excluded from internal candidates for next president
In the first round, 8 people were selected, including Kim Hak-dong and Jeong Tak.
▲ Page 6 POSCO Group Chairman Choi Jeong-woo has been excluded from the list of candidates for the next president. Attention is being paid to the possibility that POSCO will once again find itself embroiled in the vortex over the choice of the next president to succeed President Choi, whose term expires in March.
POSCO Holdings held the 4th meeting of the POSCO Group Chairman Candidate Recommendation Committee (Fuchu Committee) and selected 8 candidates through the first screening of internal candidates who applied and announced that Chairman Choi was not among them . The Fuchu Committee has not revealed whether it will support President Choi.
While the external nomination process was also underway, the Fuchu Committee first selected eight candidates from within the group, but did not reveal who the candidates were. In the business world, it is reported that the group’s key figures include POSCO Vice President Kim Hak-dong, POSCO International Vice President Jeong Tak and POSCO Holdings President Jeong Ki-seop, who are regarded as financial experts. The names of CEOs of other major affiliates are also mentioned, including POSCO Chairman Lee Si-woo, POSCO E&C Chairman Han Seong-hee, and POSCO Future M Chairman Kim Jun-hyung.
This decision was made as the National Pension Service raised concerns about fairness in the selection process of the next POSCO Group president. Previously, Kim Tae-hyun, president of the National Pension Service, said in an interview with some media: “The appointment of the CEO of POSCO Holdings must have a fair opportunity without discrimination between internal and external, and it must be done openly.” according to fair and transparent standards and procedures”. The National Pension Service is a major shareholder of POSCO Holdings (6.71%, as of November last year), effectively serving as the majority shareholder.
President Choi has not expressed an intention to run for a third consecutive term. However, according to some analyses, he may have signaled his bid for a second term by purchasing 700 of his own shares on the 11th of last month. Furthermore, it has become a source of controversy that on the 19th of last month, the POSCO Board of Directors abolished the rule requiring the incumbent president to publicly announce his intention to run for a second term, allowing him to be automatically placed in the list of candidates for the next president. Disputing the fact that the committee was made up of outside directors appointed during his tenure, he was criticized for creating a “tilted playing field” in his favor. ▲ Page 6 In the business world, he has not been invited to all presidential events since the inauguration of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration. There is a possibility that President Choi, who has a difficult relationship with the government, has decided to settle for completing his second term. On the other hand, it is speculated that the Fuchu Commission excluded Chairman Choi in the first round of screening to avoid possible noise and resulting damage to the company in the future. President Choi, who became president of POSCO Group in July 2018, was reappointed in March 2021 and has been president for more than five years.
The Fuchu Commission explained that it had selected eight internal candidates based on the candidates’ basic qualifications announced last month, including management skills, industry experience and global capabilities.
The Fuchu Committee said: “For the eight people decided this time, we will request a reputation check from a reliable external professional agency and receive the results by the 8th.” He added: “Reflecting the contents, we will hold an internal “Long List” meeting during the fifth meeting on the 10th of this month. “We will decide on the list of candidates,” he said.
The Fuchu Committee has collected the results of checks on the reputation of external candidates currently being recruited and on the 17th of this month finalized a “long list” of 20-30 both internal and external candidates, and has also decided to receive opinions from “candidate Recommendations Advisory Group” composed of prominent external figures.
External candidates for the next president include LG Energy Solutions Vice President Kwon Young-soo, former POSCO E&C President Lee Young-hoon, former POSCO Plantec President Cho Cheong-myeong, and former POSCO Reinvention Director Institute Hwang Eun-yeon.
At the end of this month, the Fuchu Committee will narrow down the candidates to around 5 and create a “short list”, at which point the identities of the candidates will be revealed to the outside world. In February, this is whittled down to a “final list” and a final candidate is confirmed and recommended to the board of directors.
However, in this process, there is a possibility that a situation like last year’s KT will happen again. It should be noted that the structure is similar to that of KT in that external directors close to the president privately evaluate the suitability of the next president. Previously, in March last year, KT’s then CEO Koo Hyun-mo also ran for a second term, causing friction with the National Pension Service, the majority shareholder. The recommendation committee was replaced, resulting in the replacement of an unrelated person for CEO Koo and the appointment of CEO Kim Young-seop, resulting in an eight-month leadership vacuum.
Park Hee-jae, chairman of the Candidate Recommendation Committee, said: “I feel infinitely responsible when faced with the important task of selecting a new group president who will be responsible for the future of POSCO Group,” and added: ” I will do my best to ensure that a fair and rigorous selection is made until the end.”
Journalist Park Seong-guk
2024-01-03 14:53:54
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