POSCO Choi Jeong-woo, No Third Term... "Not an Internal Recommended Candidate" (Comprehensive)

POSCO Holdings Holds 4th Candidate Recommendation Committee Meeting
8 Candidates Selected for Reputation Check in 1st Screening
Current Chairman Choi Jeong-woo Not Included in List
Internal Candidates Kim Hak-dong and Jeong Tak Mentioned

Choi Jung-woo, Chairman of POSCO, is delivering a commemorative speech at the POSCO Holdings inauguration ceremony held in March 2022 at the POSCO Center in Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Choi Jeong-woo, chairman of the POSCO Group, will not seek a third consecutive term as chairman.

Choi Jeong-woo's Bid for Third Term Fails

The POSCO Holdings Chairman Candidate Recommendation Committee (Candidate Committee) held its 4th meeting on the 3rd and selected eight internal candidates as the next step, 'reputation inquiry targets,' through the first screening of the internal candidates who had submitted applications. Among these candidates, the name of the current POSCO Group Chairman Choi Jeong-woo was not included. It was not disclosed whether Chairman Choi submitted an application. The names of the internal candidates selected for the reputation inquiry were also not revealed. All members of the Candidate Recommendation Committee participated in this decision and resolved it unanimously.

As a result, Chairman Choi is expected to step down after 5 years and 8 months since taking office in July 2018. During his tenure, he led bold investments in battery materials, including the development and commercialization of lithium salt lakes in Argentina. He is regarded as the leader who pioneered new energy and materials businesses for POSCO.

Some speculated that Chairman Choi's visit to the grave of the late Park Tae-joon, the founder and honorary chairman of POSCO, last December and his purchase of company shares worth several hundred million won indicated a move toward a third term. However, there are observations that the strained relationship between Chairman Choi, who was appointed during the Moon Jae-in administration, and the current government ultimately thwarted his bid for a third term. Recently, the National Pension Service, the largest shareholder holding 7.25% of POSCO shares, raised objections to the selection process for the next chairman of the POSCO Group. In fact, Chairman Choi has never been invited to the presidential overseas economic delegation.

POSCO. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

'Who is the Next Choi Jeong-woo?'... Internal Candidates Kim Hak-dong and Jeong Tak, External Candidates Kwon Young-soo and POSCO OBs Mentioned

The Candidate Committee evaluated five basic qualifications for candidates in this screening: management capability, industry expertise, global competence, leadership, and integrity/ethics. In particular, they comprehensively considered the candidates' personal histories over the past 30 years, internal reputation and evaluation records from the last five years, and various factors related to the new future leadership responsible for the POSCO Group.

The Candidate Committee has commissioned an external professional agency to conduct reputation inquiries on the eight candidates selected this time and will receive the results by the 8th of this month. On the 10th, at the 5th Candidate Recommendation Committee meeting, the 'internal long-list candidates' will be finalized. After compiling the reputation inquiry results for the currently recruiting external candidates, the 'internal and external long list' will be finalized on the 17th of this month, and opinions will be sought from the 'Candidate Recommendation Advisory Group,' composed of prominent external figures.

Park Hee-jae, chairman of the Candidate Recommendation Committee, stated, "I feel an immense responsibility in the critical task of selecting the new group chairman who will lead the future of the POSCO Group, and I will do my best to ensure a fair and strict selection process until the end."

The Candidate Committee did not disclose the names of the eight internal candidates for the reputation inquiry. Among the next chairman candidates are Kim Hak-dong, vice chairman of POSCO, who led the group's core steel business, Jeong Tak, vice chairman of POSCO International, and Jeong Ki-seop, president of POSCO Holdings and a financial expert. External candidates include Kwon Young-soo, vice chairman of LG Energy Solution, and POSCO OBs (former executives) such as Lee Young-hoon, former president of POSCO Construction, Jo Cheong-myeong, former president of POSCO Plantech, and Hwang Eun-yeon, former director of POSCO Human Resources Development Institute, who are being mentioned both officially and unofficially.

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