IBK "Opposition to Appointment of Bang Kyung-man as KT&G CEO" Requests from Shareholders

IBK Industrial Bank officially expressed opposition on the 12th to the appointment of director candidates recommended by the KT&G board, including Senior Executive Vice President Bang Kyung-man.

In the "Proxy Voting Reference Materials" disclosed on the same day, the bank stated, "As the largest shareholder of KT&G (approximately 8% voting rights), IBK proposes shareholder proposals to improve governance by enhancing the expertise and independence of the board of directors." It requested shareholders to support the appointment of outside director candidate Son Dong-hwan and to oppose the appointments of CEO Bang Kyung-man and outside director candidate Lim Min-gyu.

Son is a candidate recommended by IBK, while the other two candidates were recommended by the current KT&G board.

A KT&G official said, "After the appointment of Senior Executive Vice President Bang as an inside director, the company's operating profit increased by 3.3%, excluding one-time effects from the completion of the Suwon housing project. In particular, operating profits from the three core businesses (Global CC, NGP, and health functional foods) increased by about 20%. During the same period, while the KOSPI index fell by 12%, the company's stock price rose by about 13%."

Attention is focused on what move the National Pension Service, which holds a 6.2% stake in KT&G, will make. Previously, the National Pension Service blocked the reappointment of KT CEO Koo Hyun-mo in 2022 and recently pointed out procedural issues in the selection process of the next chairman of the POSCO Group.

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