Jeong Seung-il, Former KEPCO President, Appointed Outside Director of Samsung Electro-Mechanics

Likely Approval at General Meeting After Passing Preliminary Review and Board Meeting

Jeong Seung-il, former president of Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), has been nominated as an outside director of Samsung Electro-Mechanics. The Public Officials Ethics Committee has notified that he is "eligible for employment." Samsung Electro-Mechanics stated, "We are reviewing the recruitment," and added, "After going through the procedures, barring any major changes, it is expected that the proposal to appoint former President Jeong as an outside director will be submitted and approved at the regular shareholders' meeting in March."

According to industry sources on the 10th, former President Jeong received notification of eligibility for employment following a review on restrictions on employment for retired public officials held by the Public Officials Ethics Committee on the 21st of last month. The committee stated, "No close relevance was confirmed between the departments or agencies he belonged to in the past five years and the company he plans to join."

Samsung Electro-Mechanics plans to submit the proposal for the appointment of an outside director at the shareholders' meeting after going through the Outside Director Recommendation Committee and the board of directors. The Samsung Electro-Mechanics board consists of seven members. The outside directors include Kim Yong-gyun, former president of Seoul Administrative Court; Yeo Yoon-kyung, professor at Ewha Womans University; Lee Yoon-jung, lawyer at Kim & Chang law firm; and Choi Jong-gu, former chairman of the Financial Services Commission. It is highly likely that former President Jeong will take the place of former Judge Kim, whose term expires in March.

Jeong Seung-il, former President of Korea Electric Power Corporation. [Photo by Korea Electric Power Corporation]

Former President Jeong was born in 1965 and is a graduate of the 33rd Administrative Examination. He is well-known for having earned strong trust from seniors and juniors within the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. He has served as Director of Energy Industry Policy and Director of Free Trade Agreement Policy, among other roles. After stepping down from public office in November 2016 as Director General of the Energy Resources Department, he served as president of Korea Gas Corporation for nine months starting January 2018. He then returned to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy as vice minister in September 2018 and was appointed as the 21st president of KEPCO in June 2021.

During his tenure as KEPCO president, he sought to achieve KEPCO's self-reliance through electricity rate hikes, but this was delayed due to political considerations. Although he announced a self-reliance plan worth 25.7 trillion won during his term, KEPCO's management difficulties worsened. As a result, he stepped down from the KEPCO presidency in May last year.

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