Nam to Be Reappointed as KT CEO
By Cho Jin-seo
Staff Reporter
KT outside directors gave a unanimous vote to its chief executive officer Nam Joong-soo to renew his 3-year term next spring.
The company said on Monday that a special committee, which is composed of seven outside directors, one former CEO and one adviser, agreed to recommend Nam as the sole candidate for the next CEO.
If approved at the general shareholders' meeting in February, Nam will be the first two-term CEO at the company since it was privatized in 2002. Citibank is the firm's largest shareholder with a 33.12 percent share. Among non-financial investors, the firm's employees hold the largest share of 6.47 percent.
``Considering KT's business environment and its missions waiting for the new leader, the committee members all agreed that current CEO Nam is the most appropriate person for the job,'' Yoon Jung-ro, chairwoman who is a professor of Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, said in a release.
KT is the largest fixed-line telephone and broadband Internet operator in Korea. The firm is expanding its businesses to mobile Internet, Internet-Protocol TV and contents and entertainment businesses.
Nam, who has worked at the firm since 1982, has been expected to receive the confidence vote of the committee. He was appointed to the post in August 2005, taking over the job from Lee Yong-kyung who chaired the company from August 2002.
The general shareholders' meeting is usually held at March but this time it is likely to be held in late February, a company spokesman said.