POSCO Group to replace heads of major affiliates
From left are POSCO CEO nominee Lee Si-woo, POSCO E&C CEO nominee Chon Jung-son, POSCO International CEO nominee Lee Kye-in and POSCO Future M CEO nominee Yoo Byung-ok. Courtesy of POSCO Holdings
POSCO Group announced its decision on Wednesday to replace the CEOs of major affiliates as the nation’s fifth-largest business group prepares to appoint a new chairman following the upcoming regular general meeting of its holding firm’s shareholders on March 21.
Lee Si-woo, who previously served as a co-CEO of the group’s steelmaking unit, POSCO, alongside Vice Chairman Kim Hag-dong, will now assume sole leadership of the steelmaker. This follows the announcement that Kim will step down from his position. Lee brings extensive experience to the role, having worked at POSCO's steel mills both domestically and overseas since joining the company in 1985.
Former POSCO Holdings President Chon Jung-son, who was included on the shortlist of chairman candidates, was nominated as the CEO of POSCO E&C, the group’s construction arm. He has worked for POSCO since 1987.
Lee Kye-in, currently the chief officer of POSCO International's global business unit, will assume leadership of the group's trading and energy affiliate. Additionally, he has been promoted to the position of president from vice president. Lee brings extensive experience to this role, having joined Daewoo in 1989 and subsequently transitioning to POSCO Group after its acquisition of the now-defunct conglomerate's trading unit in 2010.
POSCO Holdings Vice President Yoo Byung-ok, who joined the steelmaker in 1989, was nominated as the CEO of POSCO Future M, the group’s chemical subsidiary specializing in battery materials. Incumbent POSCO Future M CEO Kim Jun-hyung will be transferred to the group’s holding firm.
The official appointment of the CEO nominees will take place after general meetings of each company’s shareholders.
POSCO Group announced the planned executive reshuffle two weeks after selecting former POSCO President Chang In-hwa as the next chairman to lead the steelmaker and the group’s other affiliates over the next three years.
Last December, POSCO Group promoted only executives who do not lead its affiliates, as the process to select the next chairman was still ongoing. At that time, the company was anticipated to nominate the new heads of its affiliates in February.
Following the selection of the 68-year-old as the next chairman, there were expectations that the company might not pursue generational shifts in the leadership of its affiliates. Chang, who joined the POSCO-funded Research Institute of Industrial Science & Technology in 1988, is two years older than the outgoing Chairman Choi Jeong-woo.
However, the incumbent heads of POSCO, POSCO E&C and POSCO International, all of whom are younger than the incoming chairman, will step down after the planned executive reshuffle. Some of them will serve as advisers for POSCO Group for a while, as other former senior executives did.