POSCO Outside Director Who Spoke Out on 'Lavish Business Trip' Says "Don't Worry About Investigation... Will Keep Review Schedule"

Seoul Police Agency Begins Full Investigation After Transfer from Suseo Police Station
CEO Park Hee-jae, Candidate Committee Chairman: "Electing the Chairman is an Important and Difficult Task"

Amid allegations of a lavish business trip by the POSCO Holdings board of directors, Park Hee-jae, one of the outside directors and chairman of the POSCO Holdings CEO Candidate Recommendation Committee (CRC) (pictured), has directly expressed his position. Although the CRC issued an official statement last week, this is the first time a detailed stance has been conveyed in his own voice.

On the 15th, Park stated in a phone interview with Asia Economy regarding the recent police investigation, "There is no need to worry," adding, "We will proceed with the selection process for the next chairman of the POSCO Group as scheduled."

This is interpreted to mean that there is little concern about the police investigation. The police acknowledge that POSCO Holdings' expenditure of 680 million KRW during the board meeting held in Canada complies with company regulations, but they are scrutinizing the fact that the costs were split between the subsidiary POSCO and POSCAN (POSCO-Canada). Additionally, outside directors who are current professors are suspected of violating the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act by staying at luxury hotels and having extravagant meals during the board meeting period.

Immediately after the allegations were reported, the outside directors issued a late-night statement expressing "deep regret regarding the media's issues raised," and affirmed, "All CRC members will remain steadfast and do their best until the end to fulfill the critical mission of selecting the new chairman."

Regarding the statement, Park said, "It contains various condensed points," and added, "No outside director has yet been contacted by the police."

Entrance door of POSCO building, Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Photo by Younghan Heo younghan@

On the same day, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency transferred the case to the Financial Crime Investigation Division and announced that they plan to summon and investigate Chairman Choi and other accused individuals soon.

Park expressed his determination to continue the CRC activities without wavering. He said, "Several agenda items are scheduled for the meeting on the 17th," adding, "Since it is a very important and difficult task, the meeting is expected to be lengthy."

The CRC will finalize and announce a list of 20 to 30 internal and external long-listed candidates on the 17th. By the end of this month, they plan to select the final candidate list and narrow down the final five or so finalists next month. After further evaluation, one final candidate will be confirmed and recommended to the board, and the new chairman will be appointed through the shareholders' meeting and board meeting in March.