"Differential Voting Rights and Other Corporate Control Defense Measures Needed... Sandbags Must Be Removed"

At the debate held on the 30th, Professor Kwon Jong-ho of Konkuk University (from the left), Professor Min Se-jin of Dongguk University, National Assembly member Bae Jun-young, National Assembly member Han Mu-kyung, National Assembly member Yoon Chang-hyun, Vice Chairman Lee Dong-geun of the Korea Employers Federation, Professor Han Seok-hoon of Sungkyunkwan University, Professor Yoo Ju-seon of Kangnam University, and lawyer Shin Sa-do are taking a commemorative photo.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] There have been calls to address the issue of domestic companies facing excessive restrictions on their management rights compared to foreign business environments. Since our current laws and systems are hindering companies, these burdens must be removed to create a freer management environment.

At a forum held on the 30th by the Korea Employers Federation together with Yoon Chang-hyun, a member of the People Power Party, Professor Kwon Jong-ho of Konkuk University Law School argued, "The claim to ban defensive measures out of fear of abuse is like saying 'ban cars because of the risk of traffic accidents,'" and insisted on introducing corporate defense measures such as dual-class voting shares and preemptive rights for new shares.

Professor Kwon added, "While major countries are recently focusing on improving governance, it is important not to overlook that they have preemptively prepared legal systems regarding defense measures to ensure governance improvements do not lead to threats to management rights," and explained, "In terms of management rights defense legislation, it is reasonable to amend the Commercial Act to introduce new types of defense measures."

In the subsequent discussion, Professor Yoo Ju-seon of Gangnam University pointed out, "The system of separately electing audit committee members and further limiting the voting rights of the largest shareholder to 3% is quite different from other countries operating stock companies," and said, "It is appropriate to compare and review the regulations of other countries operating audit committee systems to achieve international consistency."

Lee Dong-geun, Executive Vice Chairman of the Korea Employers Federation, is delivering the opening remarks at the forum on the 30th.

Professor Min Se-jin of Dongguk University said, "It is reasonable to either regulate both sides or allow both sides freely, and if the focus is on protecting domestic companies, defense measures should be freely permitted," adding, "If it is difficult to go against the global trend of corporate governance advancement, companies should be enabled to have reasonable means to protect their management rights."

Professor Choi Seung-jae of Sejong University said, "Among OECD countries, there is no country like ours that imposes criminal penalties for almost all violations of competition law," and stated, "It is appropriate to drastically reduce the criminal penalty provisions under the Fair Trade Act." Professor Hwang Tae-hee of Sungshin Women’s University said, "By actively listening to the opinions of companies, academia, and experts, while significantly streamlining trivial and overlapping regulations and regulations where the government excessively intervenes in the private autonomy of companies, the market will function properly, and free and fair competition will fulfill its role."

Lee Dong-geun, Vice Chairman of the Korea Employers Federation, emphasized, "To remove the burdens weighing down our companies, laws and systems must be organized from the perspective of global competition." Lawmaker Yoon Chang-hyun said, "Unnecessary regulations that block the free corporate activities of our companies must be removed, and legal and institutional support for companies should not be spared."

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