[AGM Hot Issue] Talent Pool Limits... Urgently Seeking Female Outside Directors

Mandatory Board Composition for Assets Over 2 Trillion
Difficulty in Selection Due to Concentration of Professors and Legal Experts

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] "It was especially difficult this year to check the availability and willingness to select female outside director candidates. The talent pool is tight to the extent that many hold concurrent positions. We are already worried about next year."

Domestic companies preparing for their March general shareholders' meetings have faced difficulties in recruiting female outside directors. This is due to the still low ratio of female outside directors and the lack of a sufficient talent pool. Most hires are external, but there is a concentration on professors and legal professionals, and many hold concurrent positions at other companies, making selection challenging.

According to the business community on the 14th, most major domestic conglomerates have included proposals to appoint female outside directors in their upcoming shareholders' meetings this month. This is because the amendment to the Capital Market Act, which mandates that the boards of listed companies with assets over 2 trillion won must not be composed of only one gender, will take effect from August. In practice, this means including at least one female director.

Samsung Electronics plans to appoint Han Hwa-jin, a distinguished professor at the Korea Institute of Research of Human Resources Development in Science and Technology (KIRD), as a new outside director at the shareholders' meeting on the 16th. With the expiration of Chairman Park Jae-wan's term, there is interest in whether the first female board chairperson will emerge. Kim Sun-wook, former head of the Legislation Office and former president of Ewha Womans University, who has served as an outside director at Samsung Electronics for four years, is a leading candidate for board chairperson. Samsung Electro-Mechanics and Samsung Engineering will also handle proposals to appoint Lee Yoon-jung, a lawyer at Kim & Chang law firm, and Choi Jung-hyun, a professor in the Department of Environmental Engineering at Ewha Womans University, respectively, as new outside directors at their shareholders' meetings.

At LG Group, LG Chem, LG Display, and LG Innotek plan to appoint their first female outside directors at the shareholders' meetings on the 23rd. LG Chem will propose appointing professors Lee Hyun-joo from KAIST and Cho Hwa-soon from Yonsei University, LG Display will propose Kang Jung-hye from the University of Seoul, and LG Innotek will propose Lee Hee-jung from Korea University as new outside directors.

Hyundai Heavy Industries Group has also submitted proposals to appoint female outside directors at five affiliates: Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings, Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, and Hyundai Electric. Hanwha Systems and LX International are also preparing to appoint their first outside directors since their founding.

A representative from the corporate analysis research institute Leaders Index stated, "About 43% of the newly appointed outside directors at this month's shareholders' meetings are women," adding, "Among the newly appointed outside directors, professors account for 43.3%, followed by government officials at 22.1%, and business sector at 18.3%."

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