Posco Group Minor Executive Reshuffle
'Jinx' of Replacement the Year After Regime Inauguration
Community Conflicts Over Holding Company Relocation
[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] The National Pension Service, the largest shareholder of POSCO Holdings, has raised concerns over the ‘self-renewal’ of ownership-dispersed companies without controlling shareholders, drawing increased attention to the future of POSCO Group Chairman Choi Jeong-woo.
Coincidentally, there is a precedent of former chairmen resigning in the second year of a government’s term, and with Chairman Choi solidifying his second-term system through recent minor key executive reshuffles, interest is focused on whether he will present a reversal card that deviates from past precedents.
Political circles and business insiders believe that Chairman Choi postponed the executive appointments, which were to follow the president-level reshuffle, to January next year considering the ongoing recovery from Typhoon Hinnamnor’s flood damage, choosing stability over change. However, they expect external pressures to persist.
According to industry sources on the 28th, the recent executive reshuffle by POSCO Group can be summarized as stabilizing Chairman Choi’s second-term system. This year, Chairman Choi completed the historic transition to a holding company structure since the group’s founding and successfully expanded the steel-centered business structure into new materials.
He is leading the group’s innovation by expanding ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management for carbon neutrality and practicing the ‘corporate citizenship’ management philosophy he has emphasized since taking office.
The recent executive reshuffle was also carried out along this line. Vice Chairman Jeong Tak, appointed as the inaugural CEO of POSCO International, which will launch next year as an integrated corporation with POSCO Energy, is a leading sales and marketing expert within the group. He is expected to contribute to expanding POSCO Group’s new materials business by demonstrating leadership in advancing the LNG value chain and pioneering the eco-friendly energy market, including hydrogen. The main task of Kim Jun-hyung, the new CEO of POSCO Chemical and recognized as a secondary battery materials expert within the group, is also the expansion of the new materials business.
Jeong Ki-seop, appointed head of POSCO Holdings’ management strategy team and currently CEO of POSCO Energy, is a prominent financial expert within the group who has held various positions such as head of POSCO International’s management planning office, head of POSCO’s domestic business management office, and CEO of POSCO Energy. He is known to focus on crisis management and enhancing business competitiveness at the group level, supporting stable growth.
The retention of key affiliate CEOs, including POSCO Vice Chairman Kim Hak-dong, POSCO Construction CEO Han Sung-hee, POSCO ICT CEO Jeong Deok-gyun, and POSCO Flow CEO Kim Kwang-soo, is interpreted as emphasizing ‘stability.’ A POSCO Group official explained, "Given the expected intensification of global economic uncertainties, we focused on personnel appointments aimed at overcoming crises and future growth while maintaining stability."
Although Chairman Choi has solidified his management rights through the executive reshuffle, external pressures surrounding him have not easily subsided.
Particularly, as the Yoon Seok-yeol administration approaches its second year, attention is focused on Chairman Choi’s leadership. This is because there is curiosity whether Chairman Choi can smoothly overcome the jinx where former chairmen failed to navigate the year following a regime change.
The 6th chairman, Lee Gu-taek, stepped down in 2009, the second year of the Lee Myung-bak administration; Chairman Jeong Jun-yang resigned in 2014, the second year of the Park Geun-hye administration; and Chairman Kwon Oh-joon left his position in 2018, the second year of the Moon Jae-in administration.
Especially this year, POSCO faced conflicts with local communities over the holding company relocation issue, and internal documents stating "POSCO is no longer a national company" led even founding elders of POSCO to criticize, sparking controversy.
On this day, the Citizens’ Countermeasure Committee for the Relocation of POSCO Holdings Headquarters and Future Technology Research Institute to Pohang issued a statement saying, "POSCO is not a national company, violating the founding spirit and the national and era mission of balanced regional development," urging Chairman Choi to voluntarily resign.
In this situation, the largest shareholder (with an 8.5% stake), the National Pension Service, has joined in pressuring Chairman Choi. Kim Tae-hyun, chairman of the National Pension Service, criticized the ‘emperor self-renewal’ of ownership-dispersed companies without controlling shareholders, raising interpretations that the Yoon administration’s influence might be at play regarding POSCO.
Seowon Joo, newly appointed head of the National Pension Fund Management Office the day before, also made a similar remark, stating, "To avoid concerns about self-renewal, the nomination committees of (ownership-dispersed companies) should be composed mainly of more reputable and neutral new members."
Of course, there is also a view that the situation differs from KT, where the renewal process is currently underway, since Chairman Choi was reappointed last year. No conflicts between Chairman Choi and the current government have yet been revealed. President Yoon met with Chairman Choi and encouraged him during a visit to the Gwangyang Steelworks in April, when he was president-elect.
President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol (second from left) visited POSCO Gwangyang Steelworks in Jeonnam on the afternoon of the 21st as part of his "Promise and Livelihood Walk," and took a commemorative photo in front of Blast Furnace No. 1 with Kim Young-rok, Governor of Jeonnam (first from left), Chairman Choi Jeong-woo (third from left), and Vice Chairman Kim Hak-dong. Photo by Transition Committee Press Corps
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
