30s Group's New Outside Directors: Increase in Financial Investment and Technology Experts from Business Circles

Leaders Index Analyzes 179 Companies
"Large Corporations Focus on M&A and Technological Innovation"

Among the new outside directors recommended by South Korea's top 30 conglomerates at their regular March shareholder meetings, there has been a significant increase in financial investment experts from the business sector.

On the 11th, the corporate analysis research institute 'Leaders Index' compared 125 new outside directors from 179 companies under the top 30 conglomerates that submitted their shareholder meeting notices by the 7th of this year with 168 new outside directors from the same companies last year, confirming this change.

Looking at the new outside directors by career background, those from the business sector accounted for the highest proportion, with 39 out of 125, or 31.2%. This is an increase of 14.5 percentage points compared to last year's 16.7% (28 people). In contrast, those from academia sharply decreased from 33.3% (56 people) last year to 26.4% (33 people) this year. Former government officials remained similar, with 31% last year and 30.4% this year. A detailed analysis of the 39 new outside directors from the business sector recommended this year showed that financial investment and capital market experts were the largest group, with 11 people.

In particular, subsidiaries under SK Group, which are undergoing intensive business portfolio adjustments, have recruited a large number of financial investment experts this time. SK Gas recommended Jung Young-chae, former president of NH Investment & Securities and a veteran in the investment banking (IB) industry, as an outside director candidate. SK Ocean Plant appointed Moon Seok-rok, a global asset management advisor who previously led the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) team at Samsung Securities, and SK Chemicals appointed Park Tae-jin, former chairman of JP Morgan Korea and vice chairman of the Asia-Pacific region, as outside directors.

Among those from the business sector, technology experts also accounted for a significant portion with nine new recruits. Hyundai Wia recommended Kim Chan-woo, a professor of artificial intelligence at Korea University who formerly headed Samsung Electronics' Global AI Center, and Lotte Chemical recommended Cho Hye-sung, a senior consultant who led the technology research analysis center at LG Chem and LG Energy Solution, as outside director candidates.

When classifying new outside directors by professional field, the largest group, those in law and policy, decreased from 31% to 24.2%. In contrast, experts in finance and accounting (13.1% → 19.4%), technology (17.3% → 21.0%), and financial investment (16.1% → 17.7%) increased. Leaders Index explained, "The fact that half of the new outside directors from the business sector are experts in financial investment and technology suggests that large corporations are focusing on M&A and technological innovation."