POSCO Holdings Headquarters Going to Pohang... Passed Board of Directors Meeting

Relocation of Head Office Address Debated Intensely Before Being Proposed at General Meeting
Reappointment of Kim Hak-dong as POSCO Vice Chairman and Non-Executive Director

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seoyoon] On the 20th, POSCO Holdings resumed its board meeting and passed a proposal to relocate the POSCO Holdings headquarters from Seoul to Pohang. The final decision will be made at the shareholders' meeting on the 17th of next month.

POSCO announced that during the board meeting on the same day, after continuing heated discussions regarding the relocation of the holding company's headquarters, which was not concluded on the 16th, it was decided to submit the matter to the shareholders' meeting.

A considerable number of directors viewed the relocation of the headquarters address as not sufficiently justified at this time in terms of enhancing shareholder value and the group's mid- to long-term growth vision. They also expressed concerns that the urgency and necessity were somewhat lacking, as it is a time to focus on stabilizing the POSCO Holdings system and securing future competitiveness.

Nevertheless, considering that the company management agreed with the local community on the headquarters relocation and that the nature of the matter makes it appropriate to follow shareholders' opinions at the shareholders' meeting, it was resolved to submit this issue as an agenda item for the shareholders' meeting.

The board ordered POSCO management to harmoniously pursue regional coexistence with Pohang City and the company's future development, taking this board resolution as an opportunity.

Choi Jung-woo, Chairman of POSCO Group Photo by POSCO Holdings

On the same day, the Outside Director Candidate Recommendation Committee recommended Professor Kim Jun-ki of Yonsei University Law School as a new outside director candidate to replace Jang Seunghwa, whose term is expiring. Additionally, the board recommended Jeong Kisub, Chief Strategy Officer (CSO), and Kim Jiyong, Head of the Future Technology Research Institute (Vice President), as new inside director candidates, and re-nominated Yoo Byungok, Head of the Eco-friendly Future Materials Team (Vice President), and Kim Hakdong, CEO of POSCO (Vice Chairman), as inside director and other non-executive director candidates, respectively.

Outside director candidate Kim Jun-ki is an expert in international transactions, trade law, and corporate governance improvement. Based on his extensive legal knowledge, he has served as an arbitrator and arbitration judge at domestic and international arbitration organizations and as the inaugural director of the Hills Governance Center. He is actively engaged in research and external activities in international dispute resolution, trade, and governance fields. The company expects him to provide diverse insights into company management and board operations and contribute to establishing a more transparent group governance system.

New inside director candidate Jeong Kisub is a leading financial expert within the group, having worked across POSCO, POSCO International, and POSCO Energy. He has a high understanding of the group's business sites and extensive experience in restructuring, and is expected to play a significant role in group-level crisis management and strengthening business competitiveness.

New inside director candidate Kim Jiyong is expected to contribute to enhancing the group's new growth R&D capabilities based on his diverse business experience ranging from on-site operations (cold rolling), sales (automotive steel sheets), head of the new materials business division, overseas subsidiary head, steelworks manager, to head of the safety and environment headquarters.

The candidates recommended on this day are scheduled to be appointed as directors following the shareholders' meeting on the 17th of next month.

Furthermore, the board resolved to submit to the shareholders' meeting some amendments to the articles of incorporation, including the 'Change of Year-end Dividend Record Date' to introduce a global standard dividend procedure, where the dividend amount is fixed first and the dividend record date is decided afterward, as practiced in countries like the United States and Germany, and the 'Abolition of Voting Rights Exercise by Written Ballot' to strengthen ESG management by reducing paper mail following the full establishment of electronic voting rights.

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