Kim Kwang-il, MBK Vice Chairman: "The Court Will Settle the Dispute"... Walks Out of Shareholders' Meeting

Kim Kwang-il, Vice Chairman of MBK Partners, directly criticized the exclusion of Youngpoong's voting rights by the management of Korea Zinc at the company's extraordinary general meeting on the 23rd and announced plans for legal action.

Kim Kwang-il, Vice Chairman of MBK. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo

After gaining the floor at the Korea Zinc extraordinary general meeting held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Kim addressed the chairman, saying, "The court must determine the right and wrong and correct the future of Korea Zinc, and the current governance structure that is carrying out unjust actions must be reformed."

He stated, "Sun Metal Corporation (SMC), which abruptly purchased Youngpoong shares, is a grandchild company of Korea Zinc and, from our perspective, a great-grandchild company," adding, "Of the 57.5 billion KRW used by SMC for the purchase, 27 billion KRW is essentially our money." He further expressed, "I deeply regret that such funds were unfairly used to obstruct the legitimate rights of shareholders, especially the rights of the largest shareholder."

Kim asserted, "This extraordinary general meeting was an opportunity to conclude the dispute that has lasted about four and a half months, and despite decisions by the court and capital market authorities, CEO Park Ki-duk unilaterally deprived voting rights by purchasing Youngpoong shares through SMC," calling this "invalid." He pointed out, "A distorted extraordinary general meeting proceeded due to the unilateral deprivation of voting rights on cross-shareholdings," expressing "strong regret."

On the 23rd, the day of the Korea Zinc extraordinary general meeting of shareholders, Korea Zinc shareholders are lining up to enter the shareholders' meeting hall at the Grand Hyatt Seoul in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jo Yong-jun

Kim also directly criticized, saying, "How can a company that turns its largest shareholder into an enemy become a global leader? Especially the executives sitting here should be ashamed." He added, "I can no longer participate in the proceedings that arbitrarily mock the largest shareholder, other shareholders, and the capital market," and after the vote on the appointment of the fourth director, he left the general meeting venue together with Youngpoong President Kang Sung-doo and the advisory group.

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