KT co-CEO quits before shareholders’ meeting
Park Jong-ook, co-CEO and chief safety officer of KT, resigned abruptly from his inside director position right before the start of the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting on Thursday.
Given that reappointing Park as the company’s board member was scheduled for a vote at the meeting, Park’s resignation can be interpreted as resulting from opposition by the National Pension Service (NPS), which holds a 12.49 percent stake in the telecom firm.
The NPS and civic organizations here have been expressing their opposition over his reappointment as a director, as he is undergoing a trial on charges of illegal fundraising for politicians. As for the reason for his resignation, a company spokesman said it was for “personal reasons.”
With Park’s resignation, CEO Ku Hyeon-mo has become the sole leader of the country’s leading mobile carrier. The company plans to find a new in-house director and chief safety officer, while Park will maintain his post as head of the Corporate Planning Group.
At the shareholders’ meeting, CEO Ku shared his vision to shift to a holding company structure. It is known that KT has considered restructuring into a holding company system, given that its market capitalization is at around only 9.3 trillion won, while the asset value of its real estate alone exceeds 30 trillion won.
“I think KT’s stock price is still low and the actual value of the company is not reflected. The overall market fell more than 10 percent this year, but KT rose 15 percent. There is still room for improvement,” Ku told investors.
When asked about the company’s initial public offering (IPO) plans for its affiliates, Ku added that the company plans to list Millie, its e-book subscription platform company, and internet bank K bank on the stock market.
“This year’s IPO preparation companies include Millie and K bank. Among them, K bank will go for its IPO later this year or early next year. I expect it to be valued considerably. Some other companies also wish to go for their IPOs, such as BC Card,” he said.
The company also announced it will enter the MyData business by adding personal credit information management and incidental businesses as a new clause in its articles of incorporation.
Led by the government, MyData aims to enable customers to browse their own personal financial information gathered from various financial firms and made available all in one place. KT already applied for preliminary permission to enter the business last November and is waiting for the results. The company is expected to offer its own MyData service with its credit card affiliate BC Card.
Shareholders welcomed the CEO’s vision, as the company’s stock price rose 3.78 percent to end at 35,700 won, Thursday.