Prosecutors Raid POSCO Over Allegations of Executives Buying Company Shares Using Insider Information

Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, Seocho-gu, Seoul. / Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The prosecution has launched a forced investigation into allegations that POSCO executives, including Chairman Choi Jung-woo, purchased company shares using undisclosed information.

On the 12th, according to the prosecution, the Economic Crime Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Yoo Kyung-pil) conducted a search and seizure at the POSCO Center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, securing internal meeting documents and files.

Earlier, organizations such as the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and the Metal Workers' Union filed a complaint in March accusing 64 executives, including Chairman Choi, of violating the Capital Markets Act. The allegation was that before POSCO publicly announced its plan to repurchase company shares worth 1 trillion won last year, Chairman Choi and others acquired 19,209 POSCO shares (32.6 billion won, based on a price of 170,000 won per share).

Meanwhile, POSCO is reported to have stated that "the executives' purchase of company shares has no relation whatsoever to the company's share repurchase plan."

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