KT adrift with only 1 director and no CEO

Industry

Published: 31 Mar. 2023, 10:59 Updated: 03 Apr. 2023, 09:28

KT adrift with only 1 director and no CEO

KT shareholders head to the company's annual general meeting on March 31 in Seocho District, southern Seoul. [KT]

KT faces an unprecedented leadership vacuum as it is without a CEO and has only a single board member left.

Three directors stepped down Friday ahead of the annual general meeting after major shareholders, including the National Pension Service and Hyundai Motor, opposed their reappointment.

The outgoing board members are Kang Chung-gu, Pyo Hyun-myung and Yeo Eun-jung, leaving Kim Yong-hun, a former Secretary General at the Constitutional Court of Korea, as the remaining director.

Resigning directors may have to stay on until their replacements are chosen given that a listed corporation must have at least three board members.

Two inside directors, former CEO Ku Hyeon-mo and President Yun Kyung-lim, resigned earlier this month.

Lawmakers of People Power Party and the Yoon Suk Yeol administration pointed to KT's lack of transparency and independence as the reasons for the rejection of CEO nominees and directors.

Critics claim that the Yoon administration is seeking to stack the board and the C-suite with allies.

Park Jong-wook, KT president and head of its business planning division, is serving as an acting CEO. He predicted Friday that it will take around five months to find a new CEO, and vowed to restore governance at the company as soon as possible.

BY PARK EUN-JEE [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]