3 year term… Decision at general meeting of shareholders in March next year
As a result of the evaluation of CEO Koo Hyun-mo (pictured), who announced his intention to continue his tenure, the KT CEO Candidate Review Committee decided that he was ‘eligible’.
KT’s board of directors announced on the 13th that it had been notified of the results of the screening, which determined that CEO Koo was eligible for a second term from the CEO Candidate Review Committee.
At the board of directors meeting that day, CEO Koo asked for a review of the possibility of multiple candidates considering the ‘concerns regarding the governance structure of companies with dispersed ownership’ raised by major shareholders. After in-depth discussion, the board of directors decided to proceed with an additional review.
If the board of directors accepts Koo’s proposal, it is expected that several candidates will be recommended and the next representative will be decided through a contest.
CEO Koo rose to the position as a person from inside KT, not a person recruited from outside. He joined the Korea Telecommunications Corporation as a researcher at the Economics and Management Research Institute in 1987 and later served as KT’s manager of management support, head of the business planning department, and head of the customer & media department. In March 2020, he was officially appointed as KT’s CEO. His term of office runs until the shareholders’ meeting in March next year. If the final decision is made, the term of office will be extended to March 2026.
It is not that there are no obstacles to reappointment. Representative Koo was summarily indicted on charges of so-called “splitting sponsorship” to lawmakers and sentenced to a fine of 15 million won in January. Representative Koo disobeyed his summary order, and a formal trial is currently underway in the court.
There is also a possibility that the National Pension Service (10.35% stake), the largest shareholder of KT, will put the brakes on it. The National Pension Service has exercised its voting rights once morest it for reasons such as ‘damage to corporate value’ or ‘infringement of shareholder rights and interests’.
The industry believes that the atmosphere in the political world following the change of government can also have an impact. Currently, 3 out of 8 KT outside directors are pro-Moon Jae-in personnel.
