KT Outside Director Resigns Again... Second Time This Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Su-yeon] On the 7th, ahead of the appointment of KT's next CEO, it has been reported that Benjamin Hong, an outside director, recently expressed his intention to resign. This is the second time this year that a KT outside director has announced their resignation.

Hong, who previously served as CEO of LINA Life Insurance, was appointed as an outside director at the regular shareholders' meeting in March last year. His original term was until March 2025.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

If Hong resigns, the KT board, which had a total of nine members, will be reduced to eight members, consisting of two inside directors and six outside directors. Earlier in January, former outside director Lee Kang-cheol resigned. It has not yet been confirmed whether Hong's resignation will be accepted. However, the industry views the likelihood of his resignation being accepted as high.

It is unknown whether Hong will participate in the CEO candidate interviews scheduled for the 7th. If Hong is absent, the interviews will proceed with six outside directors.

KT Saenozu issued a statement on the day, saying, "Tomorrow, interviews for the final four candidates are scheduled, but it has been revealed that an outside director who is supposed to evaluate them expressed his intention to resign just one day prior. It is difficult to avoid criticism of irresponsibility."

Meanwhile, with Hong's expression of resignation, the number of outside directors to be appointed at the KT shareholders' meeting at the end of this month has increased to five. Lee had previously resigned, and the terms of Chairman Kang Chung-gu, Director Pyo Hyun-myung, and Director Yeo Eun-jung will end with this shareholders' meeting.

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