POSCO Holdings Headquarters Moves to Pohang... Annual General Meeting Strengthens Leadership of Choi Jung-woo

Headquarters Relocated to Pohang and Three Internal Directors Appointed
Chairman Choi Jung-woo Faces 'Resignation Pressure', Strengthens Leadership
Major Shareholder National Pension Service's Support Proves Crucial

Choi Jung-woo, Chairman of POSCO Group [Photo by Yonhap News]

POSCO Holdings headquarters will be relocated to Pohang. After transitioning to a holding company structure, the operating companies were originally headquartered in Pohang, while the holding company was based in Seoul, but now both will be located in Pohang. Three inside directors recommended by the current management were also appointed, which is expected to strengthen the position of Chairman Choi Jeong-woo, who has one year left in his term.

On the 17th, POSCO Holdings held a shareholders' meeting at the POSCO Center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, and passed the proposal to relocate the POSCO Holdings headquarters from Seoul to Pohang. A total of 4,307 shareholders attended the meeting, including in-person attendance, proxy, electronic, and written voting. Of the total 75,849,277 voting shares, 54,004,063 shares (72.2%) were present.

As a result, the POSCO Group will move its headquarters back to Pohang just one year after launching the holding company. When the POSCO Group transitioned to a holding company structure in January last year, it decided to locate the POSCO Holdings headquarters in Seoul, which sparked strong opposition from Pohang citizens. In response, the POSCO Group persuaded the board and shareholders to relocate the holding company's headquarters to Pohang by March this year and agreed with Pohang City to establish the main office of the Future Technology Research Institute in Pohang. They also agreed to discuss regional win-win cooperation and investment projects with Pohang City.

Last month, the board of directors had a heated debate over the headquarters relocation. It was reported that many directors expressed the opinion that it was not the right time to change the headquarters address considering shareholder value enhancement and the group's mid- to long-term growth vision. However, the board met again on the 20th and decided to put the headquarters relocation on the agenda of the shareholders' meeting. The management judged that since they had reached an agreement with Pohang City and Pohang civil society, and given the nature of the matter, it was appropriate to decide at the shareholders' meeting.

After the shareholders' meeting, Chairman Choi Jeong-woo announced plans to form a task force (TF) for "advanced governance." Chairman Choi stated, "POSCO Group will faithfully fulfill its roles in all areas including safety, environment, and human rights to become a leading global ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) company," and added, "After the shareholders' meeting, we plan to launch an advanced governance task force together with external professional organizations." He also expressed plans to actively reflect any improvements needed in the company's governance by comparing domestic and international cases. This is interpreted as Chairman Choi, who has faced pressure to step down, aiming to solidify his leadership through governance reform.

At the shareholders' meeting, inside and outside directors recommended by the current management, including Chairman Choi, were appointed. Newly appointed inside directors include Jeong Gi-seop, Chief Strategy Officer (CSO), and Kim Ji-yong, Head of the Future Technology Research Institute (Vice President). Yu Byeong-ok, Head of the Eco-friendly Future Materials Team (Vice President), was appointed as an inside director, and Kim Hak-dong, CEO of POSCO (Vice Chairman), was reappointed as a non-executive director. Additionally, Kim Jun-gi, a professor at Yonsei University Law School, was appointed as a new outside director, succeeding Jang Seung-hwa, whose term ended. With the agenda passing without major shareholder opposition, Chairman Choi Jeong-woo's leadership is expected to be reinforced. Chairman Choi has faced calls for resignation from the political and local communities since the regime change. His term ends in March next year.

This shareholders' meeting was considered successful largely due to the support of the National Pension Service, the largest shareholder of POSCO Holdings. The day before, the National Pension Fund Stewardship Committee held a meeting and decided to exercise its voting rights in favor of key agenda items, including the relocation of POSCO Holdings headquarters to Pohang and the appointment of directors.

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