Kumho Petrochemical Sets Sail with 3rd Generation Management... Park Jun-kyung Approved as Inside Director (Comprehensive)

'Jokaui Nan' Effectively Concluded
Kumho Petrochemical's Appointment of Park Jun-kyung as Inside Director Approved with 78.71% Votes at General Meeting

Junkyung Park, Executive Director at Kumho Petrochemical

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] Kumho Petrochemical is officially launching its third-generation management system. Park Jun-kyung, the eldest son of Kumho Petrochemical Group Chairman Park Chan-gu, has been fully positioned on the front lines of management as an inside director. This marks the first time in 1 year and 2 months since Chairman Park stepped down from frontline management that a member of the owner family has been named as an inside director.

According to Kumho Petrochemical on the 21st, at the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders held that day, the proposal to newly appoint Vice President Park Jun-kyung as an inside director was passed with 12,125,890 votes (78.71%) out of 15,406,049 shares present. The proposals to appoint Kwon Tae-gyun, an outside director from POSCO Holdings, and Lee Ji-yoon, Vice Chairman of the Korea Chemical Management Association, as outside directors were also approved with 79.12% approval each.

A company official explained, "The company’s agenda was approved with virtually unanimous and overwhelming support," adding, "Excluding about 10% of shares held by shareholder Park Cheol-wan and his related parties, who have been inducing management disputes for years, 99% of the remaining voting shares supported the company’s proposals."

With this, the third-generation management system led by Chairman Park Chan-gu’s eldest son, Vice President Park, has been launched. Vice President Park is expected to take responsibility for decisions on future business. Last month, Kumho Petrochemical announced a 6 trillion won investment plan over the next five years, focusing on securing future growth engines such as electric vehicles, bio, and eco-friendly materials. It is a time when a faster and more decisive decision-making structure is needed.

Born in 1978, Vice President Park joined the company in 2010 and has held positions including overseas sales team, resin sales division executive, and head of sales headquarters. He was promoted to vice president just 11 months after being promoted to executive director in June last year. With this inside director appointment, he will take on responsible management. On the 5th, the company stated in the ‘Extraordinary General Meeting Reference Materials’ that "the board will be composed of CEO Baek Jong-hoon leading the sales division, inside director Park Jun-kyung in charge of sales, and inside director Ko Young-do in charge of finance and management, to swiftly push forward decision-making aimed at enhancing corporate value."

Kumho Petrochemical has been delivering operating results exceeding market expectations since last year. Last year, Kumho Petrochemical’s sales and operating profit reached 8.4618 trillion won and 2.4068 trillion won, respectively, increasing by 75.9% and 224.3% compared to 2020. These are record-high results.

Even in the first quarter of this year, when management uncertainties such as raw material price increases grew, the operating profit margin exceeded 20%. This was attributed to the expanded proportion of high value-added products and the outstanding sales management capabilities of Vice President Park, who has been head of sales since last year. CEO Baek also praised Vice President Park, saying, "He reorganized the sales environment of the synthetic resin division and flexibly responded to changes by expanding high value-added and eco-friendly products in the synthetic rubber and fine chemicals divisions, contributing to last year’s record-high performance."

Vice President Park’s entry into the board of directors is attracting significant attention inside and outside the business community. Chairman Park Chan-gu stepped down as CEO and inside director of Kumho Petrochemical in May last year and currently holds only the group chairman title. Since then, the inside board was operated by three members: CEO Baek (vice president), Ko Young-hoon, head of the central research institute (vice president), and Ko Young-do, head of the management headquarters (executive director). After 1 year and 2 months, the ‘owner-less board’ system is coming to an end.

The management dispute known as the ‘nephew’s rebellion’ is also considered to be effectively over. Park Cheol-wan, former executive director and the largest individual shareholder of Kumho Petrochemical, who is Chairman Park’s nephew, had opposed the appointment of Vice President Park as an inside director. Park Cheol-wan and Vice President Park are cousins. Park Cheol-wan is the son of the late Park Jung-gu, former chairman of Kumho Asiana Group, and during the ‘brothers’ conflict’ between his two great-uncles, former Kumho Asiana Group Chairman Park Sam-gu and Kumho Petrochemical Chairman Park Chan-gu, he sided with former Chairman Park Sam-gu.

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