Kumho Petrochemical Separates Chairman of the Board and CEO Roles

Strengthening Board Independence
Choi Do-seong Appointed as Chairman and Outside Director

Baek Jong-hoon, CEO of Kumho Petrochemical. Photo by Kumho Petrochemical

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seoyoon] On the 15th, Kumho Petrochemical announced that it held a board meeting the previous day and approved the agenda to separate the roles of the board chairman and the CEO, appointing outside director Choi Doseong as the new board chairman.

A Kumho Petrochemical official cited the ‘2022 Board Trend Report’ by Samil PwC Governance Center, stating, "Among about 300 KOSPI-listed companies, approximately 38% have separated the CEO and chairman roles, and among those companies, only 14% have an outside director serving as the board chairman rather than an inside director." He added, "By appointing an outside director as the board chairman, we aim to strengthen the independence of the board."

The separation of the board chairman and CEO roles is a representative policy that can be evaluated as strengthening the independence of the board. Recently, companies that have internally established leading ESG policies centered on governance are exemplary in implementing this.

The new board chairman appointed is outside director Choi. Outside director Choi has served as a member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Korea, a professor at Gachon University College of Business, and in February of this year, he assumed the presidency of Handong Global University. Currently, outside director Choi demonstrates expertise in various areas such as the Outside Director Candidate Recommendation Committee (Chairman), Audit Committee, and ESG Committee at Kumho Petrochemical, continuing his independent activities within the board committees.

Through last year's regular shareholders' meeting, Kumho Petrochemical established the ESG Committee, Compensation Committee, and Internal Transactions Committee within the board, initiating independent operations centered on outside directors. Subsequently, in June, Park Chan-gu, chairman of the Kumho Petrochemical Group, voluntarily stepped down from his roles as CEO and registered director. With this board meeting, the board chairman position has also changed from an inside director to an outside director, continuing Kumho Petrochemical's governance advancement policy as planned.

Baek Jonghoon, CEO of Kumho Petrochemical, emphasized the significance of this board decision, stating, "Having an advanced corporate management system will be the future competitiveness of the company."