Audit Committee Member Appointed by Board Nominated at Korea Zinc Extraordinary Shareholders' Meeting

Baek Inkyu Appointment Approved
Young Poong Group and MBK Nominee Park Yukyung Rejected
Board Reorganized: 12 for Chairman Choi's Side, 7 for Young Poong Group

On September 9, at an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders for Korea Zinc, Baek Inkyu, professor at Dankook University's Department of Data Knowledge Service Engineering, was appointed as an audit committee member, having been nominated by the Korea Zinc board of directors.

During the 53rd Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders, held on the same day at the Mondrian Hotel in Yongsan, Seoul, Agenda Item 3-1, related to the appointment of one independent director as an audit committee member, was approved. The appointment of the audit committee member proceeded after the approval of Agenda Item 1. From September 10, listed companies with total assets of 2 trillion won or more must increase the number of audit committee members, who are elected separately from other directors, from at least one to at least two.

Agenda Item 3-1, which was the appointment of nominee Baek Inkyu—recommended by the Korea Zinc board—passed with 5,092,815 shares in favor out of 6,225,934 present, representing an approval rate of 81.8% among voting rights. In contrast, Agenda Item 3-2—proposing the appointment of Park Yukyung, former Head of Responsible Investment and Governance for Asia Pacific at APG Asset Management, as nominated by the Young Poong Group and MBK Partners—received 1,739,065 votes in favor, an approval rate of 27.93%, and was rejected.

Park Ki-duk, CEO of Korea Zinc, is speaking as the chairman of the 53rd Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders. Korea Zinc

The Young Poong Group (YPC) side cited suspicions related to Chairman Choi’s family's One Asia Partners fund as an example and stressed that the audit committee should be elected independently. The proxy stated, "This action is not for the benefit of management, but for the collective interests of all shareholders," and added, "Our largest shareholder will continue to demonstrate its intention to elect independent candidates who are not connected to company management or any specific shareholder."

Candidate Park Yukyung said, "Currently, perceptions of Korea Zinc are not favorable," adding, "I will serve as a strong check and supervisory presence over board decisions." Park further emphasized, "Some may question whether a single independent director can bring about significant change, but I believe that having even one is more beneficial for all shareholders than having none."

Some shareholders argued that nominee Baek Inkyu, a certified accounting expert who previously served as chair of the Deloitte board, is suitable as an audit committee member. However, another shareholder objected, pointing out that although Baek may not have been directly involved, Deloitte Korea conducted a financial due diligence on Project Crucible last year. The shareholder said, "Due to relationships formed during Baek’s tenure, he cannot be completely free from these connections, and there is an inherent risk of self-review regarding work performed by his former firm."

The Korea Zinc board has increased its size from 14 to 19 directors. Specifically, the board was reorganized to include 12 directors associated with Chairman Choi’s side and 7 directors representing the Young Poong Group and MBK Partners.

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