KT&G Launches Bang Gyeongman as New CEO... First New Leader in 9 Years (Update)

Regular General Meeting of Shareholders Focused Voting 1st Place
Resolution on Appointment of Inside Director

Appointment of Outside Director Son Donghwan
Major Shareholder Industrial Bank of Korea Proposed Candidate

KT&G has confirmed Bang Kyung-man, an internal executive and General Division Head (Senior Vice President), as its next president, welcoming a new leader after nine years. Although opposition voices emerged during the selection process, he secured support from a majority of shareholders without any surprises. Leveraging the company’s three core businesses?global cigarettes (CC), electronic cigarettes (NGP), and health functional foods?KT&G is expected to accelerate its mid- to long-term vision of becoming a "global top-tier" company.

Bang Kyung-man, New President of KT&G
[Photo by KT&G]

On the morning of the 28th, KT&G held its 37th regular general shareholders’ meeting at the Talent Development Center of its headquarters in Daedeok-gu, Daejeon, and passed the agenda to appoint Bang as the new president. Bang secured 84,097,688 votes in the cumulative voting system, which appoints the top two candidates among three nominees?including two outside director candidates?as internal and external directors, confirming his appointment as an internal director in first place. Son Dong-hwan, a candidate recommended by IBK Industrial Bank, the largest single shareholder holding 7.11% of KT&G shares and a professor at Sungkyunkwan University Law School, ranked second with 56,603,958 votes and joined as a new outside director.

This is the first time KT&G has appointed a new president in nine years since the inauguration of former president Baek Bok-in in 2015. Baek, who served three consecutive terms, left a record as the company’s longest-serving CEO and passed the baton. Since the company’s privatization in 2002, the tradition of appointing internal executives as heads has continued from former president Kwak Joo-young to the current president Bang.

President Bang graduated from the Department of Economics at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies and earned a master’s degree in business administration from the University of New Hampshire in the United States. He joined KT&G’s predecessor, Korea Tobacco & Ginseng Corporation, through open recruitment in 1998 and has held key positions across the company, including Brand Director, Head of Global Division, Head of Strategic Planning Division, and Business Division Head. During his tenure as Brand Director, the ultra-slim cigarette "Esse Change" was launched and has grown to become the number one brand in the domestic market. As Head of the Global Division, he built a customized brand portfolio for each overseas market, expanding the number of countries entered from about 40 to over 100. The company also explained that after becoming an internal director three years ago, he contributed to growing the operating profit of the three core businesses by about 20%.

Bang Kyung-man, the newly appointed President and CEO of KT&G and Head of the General Division (second from the right), is observing the regular shareholders' meeting held on the 28th.
[Photo by KT&G]

Earlier, KT&G’s President Recommendation Committee confirmed Bang as the next leader candidate on the 22nd of last month based on these achievements, adding, "We judged him to be the optimal candidate to demonstrate capabilities in overcoming market limitations and leading KT&G to leap forward as a global top-tier company, based on his insight into the overall business."

During the election process for the new president, negative opinions were not insignificant, with activist fund "Flashlight Capital Partners" (FCP), which holds less than 1% of KT&G shares, and others presumed to be internal members launching attacks against the current and former management. However, when the vote took place, the proportion supporting Bang’s leadership was much higher.

Meanwhile, at the shareholders’ meeting, the agenda items including the appointment of outside director Kwak Sang-wook as a member of the Audit Committee, approval of the director remuneration limit, and partial amendments to the articles of incorporation including the addition of business purposes were approved as originally proposed.