POSCO selects former executive as next chairman
POSCO Group Chairman nominee Chang In-hwa
Former POSCO President Chang In-hwa was selected on Thursday to serve as the next chairman, tasked with leading the steelmaker and other affiliates of the nation's fifth-largest business group for the next three years.
The POSCO Holdings CEO recommendation committee cited Chang's experience in the group's overall businesses and his amicable relationship with workers as key factors in its decision to nominate him as the new leader. He was also recognized for helping POSCO expand its presence in the battery materials sector.
The 68-year-old nominee started his career in 1988 as a researcher at POSCO-funded Research Institute of Industrial Science & Technology in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, and had worked for the steelmaker for more than three decades. After his resignation as POSCO's president in 2021, Chang has been serving as an adviser for the company.
He holds a doctorate degree in marine engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and master's and bachelor's degrees in naval engineering from Seoul National University.
In 2018, he competed for the chairman post with Choi Jeong-woo, incumbent chief of POSCO Group.
"The nominee is expected to enhance the global competitiveness of the steelmaking business facing calls to reduce carbon emissions, while strengthening the group's new businesses," said Seoul National University’s mechanical engineering professor Park Heui-jae, who heads the recommendation committee.
The official appointment of the new chairman will take place after a general meeting of shareholders scheduled on March 21.
Despite speculation that an outsider could be chosen as the next chairman for the first time since POSCO's privatization in 2000, the recommendation committee opted to appoint an insider to manage the company once again. Throughout POSCO's six decades of history, Kim Man-che, who led the company from 1994 to 1998, was the only chairman who had not previously worked for the steelmaker before his appointment.
The recommendation committee interviewed six candidates from Wednesday to Thursday, including three former and incumbent POSCO executives, who were on a shortlist announced on Jan. 31.
Despite an ongoing investigation into the outgoing chairman and directors of the steelmaker's holding company regarding allegations of extravagant overseas trips funded by the company, the committee proceeded with the selection process as scheduled.
Last Friday, a civic group consisting of residents of POSCO’s hometown of Pohang accused the outgoing chairman of interfering with the selection process. The company refuted the allegation and filed a defamation lawsuit against the group.
Unionized workers at POSCO also urged the recommendation committee on Tuesday to choose a candidate who is familiar with the steel industry.
In addition, the government has continued exercising its influence over the steelmaker and its affiliates through the National Pension Service, the state pension fund which is the largest shareholder of POSCO Holdings.
Just like his predecessors who were forced to step down after political transitions, the incumbent chairman has faced opposition from the ruling People Power Party, given that he was appointed under the previous Moon Jae-in administration.