Recruitment of Kang Seokhoon, CEO of Abley
No Legal Obligation to Establish Audit Committee
Proactive Operation to Enhance Corporate Image
Mobile game company Com2uS is appointing Kang Seok-hoon, the founder of Watcha and creator of Able Corporation, as an outside director and audit committee member. Com2uS is the game company behind the globally popular 'Summoners War' series and 'Com2uS Pro Baseball.'
According to the gaming industry on the 17th, Com2uS plans to leverage Kang’s expertise to infuse content specialization into the organization. Com2uS is aiming to transform into a comprehensive content company. A Com2uS representative said, "Kang will offer various ideas based on his experience founding and operating the online video service (OTT) company 'Watcha' and the e-commerce platform 'Abley.' We also expect him to provide new perspectives on overseas expansion and new business risks."
Com2uS’s acquisition of stakes in 'MStoryHub,' an intellectual property (IP) production company specializing in web novels and webtoons, and 'MediaCan,' a company specializing in video business, in 2021 was for this reason. In the same year, Com2uS also established 'Jungle Studio,' a story content company. Through aggressive investment and marketing, Com2uS posted losses for three consecutive years from 2021 to 2023 but turned a profit last year after three years. From this year, it plans to focus more on content investment.
Com2uS will also propose the establishment of an audit committee at the shareholders' meeting scheduled for the 31st of this month. Besides Kang, the audit committee members recommended include Joo Shin-hong, CEO of Pureun Partners Asset Management and former analyst at Ebest Investment & Securities, and Yoon Hyun-kyung, executive director of the CSR team at Dongwha Pharmaceutical, who was appointed as an outside director of Com2uS last year.
Meanwhile, Wemade, a game company embroiled in the hacking incident of the virtual asset 'WEMIX,' is also pushing for the establishment of an audit committee at its shareholders' meeting on the 28th of this month. Wemade’s audit committee is expected to consist of three members: Lee Hyun-chul, audit committee member of Woori Card and former standing commissioner of the Securities and Futures Commission; Kim Young-ho, advisor at the law firm Sejong; and Lee Sun-hye, professor in the Department of Social Welfare at Chung-Ang University.
As a result, after the March shareholders' meetings conclude, all companies ranked from first to seventh in the gaming industry by sales will operate audit committees. For reference, Wemade ranks sixth and Com2uS seventh. The gaming industry’s move to establish audit committees is interpreted as a strategy to enhance their image in line with ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management principles. Under current law, listed companies with total assets exceeding 2 trillion won are classified as large corporations and must operate audit committees. Although Com2uS and Wemade have asset sizes in the 1 trillion won range, they plan to proactively establish audit committees to increase corporate value.
An industry insider explained, "The reason Com2uS and Wemade, which are not currently obligated to operate audit committees, are rushing to establish them is to secure management transparency and advance corporate governance as part of ESG management."
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