Among these, former prosecutors made up the highest percentage at 19.5% (8 individuals). (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Mar. 5 (Korea Bizwire) – A recent analysis conducted by Leaders Index, a corporate analysis research institute, revealed that a significant portion of the new outside director candidates proposed for the annual general meetings of South Korea’s top 30 conglomerates are former bureaucrats, with those from the prosecution and judiciary sectors accounting for over 30%.
The study, which examined resolutions for shareholder meetings of 71 out of 237 affiliates within the top 30 groups by sales, found that 39.8% (41 individuals) of the 103 newly recommended outside directors come from a bureaucratic background. Among these, former prosecutors made up the highest percentage at 19.5% (8 individuals).
Notably, Samsung C&T nominated Kim Kyung-soo, a former Daegu High Prosecutor’s Office Chief (now a lawyer at Bae, Kim & Lee LLC), and Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance proposed Sung Young-hoon, a former Commissioner of the Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission (now a lawyer at Kim & Chang) as outside director candidates.
Hyundai Autoever brought on board Lee Sun-wook, a former Deputy Chief Prosecutor at Chuncheon District Prosecutors’ Office (now a lawyer at Kim & Chang), while Lotte Fine Chemical nominated Bong Wook, a former Deputy Chief Prosecutor at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office (now a lawyer at Kim & Chang), and HD Hyundai Energy Solutions recruited Yeo Hwan-seop, a former Justice Training Institute Director (now at Yeo Hwan-seop Law Office).
Furthermore, Hanwha Aerospace and Lotte Hi-Mart appointed judges as outside director candidates, with former Seoul High Court Judge Chon Huy-jae (now a professor at Sungkyunkwan University Law School) and former Seoul District Court Judge Hong Dae-sik (now a professor at Sogang University Law School), respectively.
Among the nominees, former National Tax Service officials (12.2%, five individuals) were the third largest group, with former Seoul Regional Tax Office Commissioner Kim Hee-chul (now an advisor at Kim & Chang) being nominated for Hyundai AutoEver and Hyosung Advanced Materials, and former National Tax Service Investigation Bureau Director Kim Young-gi (now CEO of tax firm T&P) being nominated for Shinsegae Food.
The list also includes individuals from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (five nominees), Financial Services Commission (three nominees), and the Ministry of Economy and Finance and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (two nominees each).
Of the new outside director candidates, 15.8% (17 individuals) are women, with 35.5% (six individuals) of them coming from a bureaucratic background, showing no significant difference from their male counterparts.
Out of the total 103 new outside director nominees, 40.7% (42 individuals) were already holding outside director positions in other companies, with half of them (21 individuals) being former bureaucrats.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
