National Pension Service Selects HiteJinro as "Public Focused Management Company"

The National Pension Fund Stewardship Responsibility Committee announced on the 14th that it held its 11th meeting and selected HiteJinro as a company subject to public focused management.

Previously, in 2020 and 2021, the National Pension Service designated HiteJinro as a company subject to non-public engagement and non-public focused management, respectively. The decision was based on concerns about potential violations of laws and regulations that could undermine corporate value, prompting the National Pension Service to encourage voluntary improvements. However, the committee explained that over the past five years, despite ongoing engagement, the company has not taken sufficient action, leading to its selection as a company subject to public focused management.

The National Pension Service pointed out that concerns about legal violations stem from the Korea Fair Trade Commission imposing a fine of approximately 7.95 billion won (recalculated as 7.06 billion won in 2023) on HiteJinro in 2018 for unfairly supporting Seoyoung ENT.

The National Pension Service plans to post the selection of HiteJinro as a company subject to public focused management on the Fund Management Headquarters’ website and to demand appropriate actions from HiteJinro through a public letter.