This Year's Annual General Meeting Electronic Voting Participation Rate at 12.4%... Highest Ever Recorded

Up 1.4 Percentage Points from Last Year
Increasing Corporate Engagement Remains a Challenge

At this year's regular general shareholders' meeting, it was reported that 921 companies used the Korea Securities Depository's electronic voting system (K-VOTE). The electronic voting participation rate based on the number of shares reached an all-time high of 12.4%.

According to the Depository on the 17th, the number of companies using electronic voting for the 2025 regular general shareholders' meeting was a total of 921, similar to the previous year (922 companies). Among the users, 396 companies were listed on the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), an increase of 7 companies compared to the previous year.

The Depository stated, "The growth in the number of user companies is slowing down," and added, "Although active promotional activities are being conducted targeting listed companies, more participation is needed to raise corporate interest."

On the other hand, the electronic voting participation rate reached a record high of 12.4% (based on the number of shares) as the number of shares voted electronically by all shareholders (pension funds, asset managers, insurance companies, individuals, and corporations) increased overall. Out of the total voting shares (52.26 billion shares), 6.48 billion shares were exercised through electronic voting. The number of shares voted by individual shareholders also increased by 11% compared to the previous year.

The Depository said, "For the activation of the system, corporate interest and efforts to introduce electronic voting are necessary, and the Korea Securities Depository plans to promote active publicity and improve the system for user convenience." It added, "To enhance voting convenience for institutional investors, we plan to expand customized services for institutional investors, such as direct linkage voting with pension funds." Furthermore, it stated, "From the perspective of individual investors, we plan to improve the current electronic notification service so that it can also be used as a communication channel between shareholders and companies and provide it to companies."