Pohang City Refutes Claims of Local Government's Delayed Response to POSCO Holding Company Headquarters Relocation

POSCO Center.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Dong-guk] Pohang City has strongly refuted the criticism raised by some media outlets that the local government's response to the relocation of POSCO Holdings' headquarters was too slow.

Pohang City stated that POSCO abruptly made the first official disclosure of the split plan, recorded in the articles of incorporation of the surviving and split companies, through a major matters report after the board of directors' resolution on December 10 last year. Despite having a governance restructuring plan to relocate the headquarters to Gangnam-gu, Seoul, well prepared before December 10, POSCO handled it secretly without communication, anticipating backlash from the local community and others.

The city explained that fixing the shareholders' meeting date on January 28, just before the Lunar New Year holiday, seemed clearly intended to appease local public opinion. Under these circumstances, there were definite limitations for the city to respond at the administrative level by applying uncertain information that had only circulated as rumors beforehand.

Regarding the critical decision affecting Pohang City's future as a holding company, POSCO conveyed the situation in a 'unilateral notification manner' only after the board resolution was made. The city’s position is that receiving already reported news face-to-face is not communication but merely a 'showy gesture.'

Although the administrative deputy director of the Pohang Steelworks visited on December 14 last year, the deputy director is neither in a position to change the situation nor the responsible party for the matter, which the city criticized as lacking sincerity and effectiveness in POSCO’s actions.

Above all, Chairman Choi Jung-woo has shown no willingness to meet or communicate with Pohang City so far. Ultimately, the meeting with Vice Chairman Kim Hak-dong was only arranged on January 18, after the golden time had passed, which the city emphasized was merely POSCO’s intentional stalling.

Large corporations headquartered in provincial areas play a lifeline role for their cities and citizens by increasing tax revenue, creating jobs, attracting follow-up investments, and contributing to urban vitality. Gambling with Pohang City's fate for election purposes is unacceptable, and anyone who uses the POSCO holding company issue as an election strategy will become a sinner of history, the city argued.

A Pohang City official stated, “Chairman Choi Jung-woo’s 'With POSCO' is just an empty slogan, and the POSCO holding company transition pushed through by their closed-door management intends to use Pohang City as a shield.” He added, “We hope they can provide trust to Pohang City and its citizens through sincere actions that can be relied upon, rather than unilateral notifications without communication and sweet words about mutual development.”

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