The number of outside directors working for South Korea’s 50 largest corporate groups surpassed 1,000 last year. (Image courtesy of Kobiz Media)
SEOUL, Mar. 21 (Korea Bizwire) – The number of outside directors working for South Korea’s 50 largest corporate groups surpassed 1,000 last year, with nearly 90 individuals serving on the boards of two separate companies, according to a report released on Monday.
The Korea CXO Institute, a corporate analysis firm, found that among the top 50 conglomerates designated by the Fair Trade Commission, a total of 1,218 outside directors were employed across affiliated companies when accounting for overlapping appointments.
SK Group, with over 200 subsidiaries, had the highest number of outside directors at 98, followed by Hyundai Motor (74), Lotte (70), Samsung (66), Hanwha (47), Kakao (46), Hyundai Department Store (44), LG (38), CJ (34), and HD Hyundai and LS (31 each).
Over half (51.6%) of these outside directors will see their terms expire before this month’s shareholders’ meetings, while 31.8% have terms ending next year and 16.7% in 2026. Notably, 41.8% have been reappointed as outside directors at least twice.
The report identified 86 individuals serving as outside directors for two companies simultaneously. The gender breakdown of these dual appointees was heavily skewed toward men at 79.1%.
Former university presidents and professors made up the largest occupational group at 38.4%, followed by former high-ranking government officials at 34.9%, including 14 former government ministers (16.3% of the total).
Among the former academics were Jeong Kap-Young, ex-president of Yonsei University, serving on the boards of Korean Air and CJ Logistics. Former officials included Kim Hyun-Woong, an ex-justice minister now at Shilla Hotels and HD Hyundai Oilbank, and Choi Joong-Kyung, a former knowledge economy minister at Samsung C&T and CJ ENM.
Lawyers, a preferred choice for outside directorships, accounted for 15.1% with 13 individuals serving at two companies.
By conglomerate, Samsung and SK each had 17 outside directors with dual appointments, followed by Hyundai Motor (14), Lotte (12), and LG and CJ (9 each).
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
