Decision to Resign Ahead of the General Meeting on the 31st
Yoon Kyung-rim, head of the Group Transformation Division (President) and KT's next CEO candidate, decided to withdraw from the candidacy on the 27th.
KT announced on the 27th that President Yoon conveyed this intention to the board of directors.
Regarding the reason for his withdrawal, President Yoon said, "I judged that it is most desirable for a new CEO to be elected through governance improvements that exceed the expectations of key stakeholders."
President Yoon was originally scheduled to be appointed through a vote at the shareholders' meeting on the 31st. The industry views his resignation as a result of political pressure. The government and the ruling party have repeatedly criticized the process of selecting KT's next CEO. President Yoon was the second candidate chosen by the board after the current CEO, Koo Hyun-mo, gave up his bid for reappointment.
Earlier, on the 22nd, at a breakfast meeting, President Yoon also expressed to the directors his intention to step down from the CEO candidacy. At that time, candidate Yoon reportedly said, "I don't think I can endure any longer. If I endure, KT will deteriorate further." The board tried to dissuade him from resigning, but after much deliberation over the weekend, President Yoon made this decision. A KT official stated, "It is understood that there was no compromise reached with the board."
With President Yoon's resignation formalized, the agenda to appoint Seo Chang-seok, head of the Network Division, and Song Kyung-min, CEO of KT SAT (head of the Management Stabilization TF), as inside directors will also be automatically discarded. Additionally, since CEO Koo's term ends with this shareholders' meeting, an acting CEO must be appointed.
KT stated, "We will do our best to stabilize management early."
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