At Hanjin KAL's General Meeting, KCGI Proposal Rejected... Chairman Cho Won-tae Gains Upper Hand

Chairman Cho Won-tae of Hanjin Group (center) is applauding at the 20th anniversary event of Incheon Airport held in March last year. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] In the board member appointment battle between Hanjin Group's holding company Hanjin KAL and private equity fund KCGI, the company side won.

At the Hanjin KAL shareholders' meeting held on the 23rd, the proposal by KCGI to appoint outside director Seo Yoon-seok (professor at Ewha Womans University) was rejected with 25% in favor and 56% against. On the other hand, the company's proposal to appoint outside directors Joo In-ki (emeritus professor at Yonsei University) and Joo Soon-sik (former advisor at Yulchon) recommended by the Outside Director Candidate Recommendation Committee passed with 61% approval.

The proposal to appoint Ryu Kyung-pyo, president of Hanjin KAL, as a new inside director was also approved with 80% support. The company's original proposal to appoint Shin Sung-hwan (professor at Hongik University) as an outside director was withdrawn as Professor Shin voluntarily resigned after joining the Presidential Transition Committee. KCGI also submitted a proposal to amend the articles of incorporation to strengthen director qualifications along with their outside director proposal, but it was rejected in the vote.

Joo Won-tae, chairman of Hanjin Group and the largest shareholder of Hanjin KAL, and KCGI, which aims to increase corporate value through governance improvements for investment returns, had previously clashed over company management two years ago. However, this year, with the Korea Development Bank investing 800 billion KRW to support Korean Air's acquisition of Asiana Airlines and securing over 10% of shares, backing Chairman Joo, many predicted the company side would win comfortably.

In a greeting delivered through Hanjin KAL CEO Seok Tae-soo on the day, Chairman Joo said, "To overcome the prolonged COVID-19 crisis and enhance shareholder value, this year's management policy has been set to support overcoming the COVID-19 crisis and securing liquidity," adding, "We will successfully reorganize the Korean aviation industry and ensure that Korean Air and Asiana Airlines create a unified culture beyond physical integration, with all employees working together with one heart."

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