Lee Nam-woo, chairman of the Korea Corporate Governance Forum, has resigned as a candidate for a non-executive director at Coway. Previously, Coway raised concerns about Lee holding multiple positions as a non-executive director at SBS and Hansol Holdings, as well as an auditor at the artificial intelligence (AI) startup AgileSoDA, citing an issue of excessive concurrent positions.
The activist fund Align Partners stated on the 24th that Lee has decided to resign from his candidacy for a non-executive director position at Coway. Align Partners had previously recommended Lee as a candidate for a non-executive director through a shareholder proposal.
Align Partners noted, "Lee explained that there were some misunderstandings regarding the concurrent position restrictions and immediately expressed his intention to resign to AgileSoDA, suggesting there would be no legal disqualification for him to be newly appointed as a non-executive director at Coway," while also stating, "After discussions, Lee has decided to resign from the candidacy."
Align Partners explained that Lee resigned from the candidacy for a non-executive director position in order to avoid unnecessary controversy at a crucial time that calls for collective wisdom to improve Coway's corporate governance and enhance its corporate value.
Align Partners also stated, "Through the introduction of a concentrated voting system proposed by shareholders, even a major shareholder like Netmarble, who only holds 25% of the equity, can effectively be restrained from exercising excessive influence, and it can create structural conditions for the board of directors to work on behalf of all shareholders."
Continuing, they mentioned, "If Coway is deemed to have not sufficiently achieved its goals of improving corporate governance and capital allocation after the introduction of the concentrated voting system, additional measures can be taken," adding, "I hope that this regular shareholders' meeting for Coway becomes an opportunity for constructive discussion and competition in front of the shareholders, leading to Coway's growth."