KT revamps board with new CEO decision on horizon

KT has appointed seven outside board directors and passed new agendas at its extraordinary general meeting held on Friday. The telecom carrier faces an unprecedented leadership vacuum without a CEO as lawmakers of the People Power Party and Yoon...

KT's first extraordinary meeting took place at KT's research and development center at Seocho District, southern Seoul, on Friday. [YONHAP]

KT has appointed seven outside board directors and passed new agendas at its extraordinary general meeting held on Friday.

The telecom carrier faces an unprecedented leadership vacuum without a CEO as lawmakers of the People Power Party and Yoon Suk Yeol administration pointed to KT's lack of transparency and independence when rejecting CEO nominees and directors.

The extraordinary meeting took place three months after KT's former CEO Ku Hyeon-mo stepped down from the top job on March 28.

The new outside directors are: Kwak Woo-young, former head of the Vehicle IT Development Center at Hyundai Motor Group; Kim Seong-cheol, professor at Korea University's School of Media and Communication; Ahn Yeong-kyun, a director of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC); Yoon Jong-soo, former vice environment minister; Lee Seung-hoon, head of global business at Korea Corporate Governance Improvement; Cho Seung-ah, professor at Seoul National University's Graduate School of Business Administration and Choi Yang-hee, president of Hallym University.

Ahn, Lee and Cho were elected to become members of the audit committee. Kim Yong-hun, a former Secretary General at the Constitutional Court of Korea, will sit as the board chairman.

The terms for new directors will end between 2025 and 2026.

All the agendas at the meeting passed without revisions within 30 minutes.

Proposed revisions on the qualification of a new CEO were also passed.

“Knowledge and experience in the ICT field,” which was a previous qualification requirement, has now been deleted. The CEO candidates will now be evaluated based on their management and industry expertise, leadership and communication.

Additionally, the requirement for shareholder approval for CEO candidates has been raised from 50 to 60 percent of outstanding voting rights.

Moreover, to boost the influence of outside directors within the board, the number of internal directors will be reduced from three to two.

The next CEO will be appointed by a committee made up of outside directors at the next extraordinary general meeting scheduled to take place in August.

“KT’s fundamental bases of security and growth have not changed,” said Park Jong-wook, the KT president who currently serves as an acting CEO. “With the new management structure, it will be our opportunity towards a bigger leap forward.”

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]