POSCO Tops Corporate Governance Key Indicator Compliance... Half of Listed Companies Barely Meet Standards

Leaders Index Conducts Full Survey of 501 Companies
POSCO Holdings Achieves 100% Compliance Rate

With the mandatory submission of corporate governance reports set to expand to all KOSPI-listed companies starting next year, it has been confirmed that POSCO Holdings recorded the highest rate of compliance with key indicators among Korean companies from 2021 to this year.

According to a comprehensive survey released on the 17th by the corporate analysis institute Leaders Index, which reviewed the "2024 fiscal year corporate governance reports" of 501 non-financial listed companies with assets of 500 billion won or more that submitted governance reports among the top 500 companies by revenue, POSCO Holdings had the highest compliance rate.

The corporate governance report disclosure system was introduced to transparently inform stakeholders about each company's governance status and to build systems tailored to the characteristics of each company, thereby enhancing management transparency.

This year, the average compliance rate for key indicators among companies was 54.4%, roughly half. The report consists of 15 detailed principles under three main categories: shareholders (5), board of directors (6), and audit organizations (4). On average, companies complied with 8.1 key indicators.

By company, POSCO Holdings achieved a 100% compliance rate by meeting all 15 indicators in three out of the past five years (2021?2025), except for 2021 and 2023. KT&G recorded a compliance rate of 86.7% in 2021 and 93.3% in both 2022 and 2023, and has achieved 100% compliance for two consecutive years since last year, ranking just behind POSCO Holdings. Six companies?LG Innotek, HD Hyundai Construction Equipment, Kakao, Hyundai Heavy Industries, LG HelloVision, and HD Hyundai Marine Solution?complied with 14 indicators. In addition, 28 companies, including Samsung Electronics, LG, SK Telecom, and Naver, complied with 13 indicators, a significant increase from last year’s nine companies.

Among the surveyed companies, Ildong Pharmaceutical showed the most significant improvement in compliance rate over the past year. Ildong Pharmaceutical’s compliance rate rose from 13.3% (2 indicators) in 2024 to 73.3% (11 indicators) in 2025. Companies with a compliance rate below 50% accounted for 42% of the total, or 210 companies. Among these, the compliance rates of Samyang Holdings, Hitejinro Holdings, LS Networks, Koryo Steel, Sajo Daerim, DY Deokyang, iMarketKorea, SoluM, and ISU Chemical did not even reach 30%.

By category, the compliance rate for audit organization indicators averaged 74.8%, while shareholder and board of directors indicators recorded compliance rates of 55.7% and 39.9%, respectively. In particular, among the board of directors indicators, the "cumulative voting system" had the lowest compliance rate. Only 3% (15 companies) of the 501 companies surveyed adopted it. The cumulative voting system is a method that grants voting rights proportional to the number of shares when electing two or more directors, enabling the election of directors who represent minority shareholders’ opinions.