KT to restart process to find new CEO to ensure transparency

KT building in Gwanghwamun [Courtesy of KT]

KT Corp. directors want to re-start the process of appointing a new chief executive officer, indicating that the company would begin to accept applications again from candidates following the board of directors meeting on Thursday.

Incumbent CEO Koo Hyun-mo will apply for the position as he has said he is open to competition as he seeks another term.

Koo’s re-appointment faces many challenges, analysts note. The National Pension Service, the largest shareholder in the telecom company, indicated that it may exercise its voting rights against his re-appointment because the process was not transparent.

On top of this comes pressure from the president. Earlier, President Yoon Suk-yeol made comments about companies with dispersed ownership structures, highlighting the need for a stewardship code at those companies. Koo didn’t participate at the “Corporate Day” event Thursday, where he was scheduled to make a presentation to institutional investors and analysts.

KT is eager to keep the appointment process transparent as it seeks new leadership. In the past, the company has been the target of criticism due to opaque processes in appointing the CEO. The telecom giant plans to decide on a final candidate before the regular shareholders’ meeting next month, in a step to normalize corporate management.

KT CEO Koo Hyun-mo [Photo by Han Joo-hyung]

The company’s corporate governance panel will accept applications from outside the company until Feb. 20, along with a list of internal candidates, who have been proven acceptable based on the company’s program to foster company leaders. Final candidates will be chosen by a group of advisors, which will be sought from various fields outside the company. Interviewers of the finalists will listen to various voices from shareholders and key parties of interest concerning the ideal CEO candidate before they proceed with interviews.

All applicants, as well as the outcome of all meetings in the appointment process, will be publicly announced. During the review process of the applicants, inside directors will not participate, as its largest shareholder has increasingly pressured the company to run a scrupulous process.

The company plans to draw up the list of finalists by March 7. The board of directors will want to finalize the candidates before the upcoming regular shareholders’ meeting to minimize any potential vacancy, as the incumbent Koo’s term ends at the end of March. The company usually undergoes executive appointments and organizational re-shuffling in December, but the regular process has not taken place last year. Company executives, whose terms have expired, have been extending their positions month-by-month.