Listed Companies Association Governance Advisory Committee "Support for POSCO Chairman Choi Jung-woo's Reappointment and Other AGM Proposals"

Current Management's Responsibility for Safety Accidents Unclear
High Evaluation of ESG Efforts

Choi Jung-woo, Chairman and CEO of POSCO

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] The Governance Advisory Committee, an independent body affiliated with the Korea Listed Companies Association, expressed support for all agenda items submitted at POSCO's regular shareholders' meeting, including the reappointment of Chairman Choi Jung-woo.

The Governance Advisory Committee announced this position on the 11th, praising POSCO's safety assurance and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management. The committee is composed of independent external experts separate from the Listed Companies Association to ensure fairness and independence.

The committee expressed support for all candidates in Agenda Item No. 3, which includes the reappointment of four inside directors, including Chairman Choi Jung-woo, and the appointment of one new director. The committee stated, "POSCO has been recognized by the market as an excellent governance company, such as receiving the highest rating from KCGS, and the responsibility of the current management for the recent fatal accident is unclear." It added, "We considered the active efforts made to prevent recurrence of accidents, such as implementing six urgent safety measures recently."

Recently, the government ruling party and civil society have opposed Chairman Choi's reappointment due to safety accident issues. Lee Nak-yeon, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, emphasized last month, "POSCO's CEO must take responsibility and implement measures to strengthen industrial safety," and "The National Pension Service should exercise shareholder rights by activating the Stewardship Code." The National Pension Service is the largest shareholder of POSCO, holding 11.10% of its shares.

The committee also supported Agenda Item No. 2, the amendment of the articles of incorporation. It highly evaluated POSCO's proactive measures on ESG through the active introduction of an ESG committee by the board of directors.

Regarding Agenda Item No. 4, the appointment of outside directors, the committee did not oppose it. The Governance Advisory Committee noted, "Although POSCO has donated to the Climate Change Center where outside director candidate Yoo Young-sook works, considering that the candidate is a non-executive director and the donation amount is small, there is no concern about independence."

The committee also found no issues with Agenda Item No. 6, the approval of the director remuneration limit. It explained, "The bonus payment ratio linked to business performance is high, and evaluation criteria for performance-linked bonus payments have been established," adding, "The remuneration payment rate is decided by a compensation committee composed entirely of outside directors, ensuring procedural legitimacy in remuneration decisions."

Additionally, there were no particular issues with Agenda Item No. 1 (approval of financial statements) and Agenda Item No. 5 (separate election of audit committee members).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.