The domestic voting rights consulting firm Korea ESG Standards Institute opposed the reappointment of all existing board members of Korea Zinc. It also only supported the new appointments of six candidates from Young Poong and MBK Partners and two candidates from Korea Zinc to ensure mutual checks within the board.
According to Young Poong and MBK Partners on the 23rd, the Korea ESG Standards Institute sent a report analyzing the agenda for the regular shareholders' meeting of Korea Zinc to institutional investors on the morning of the 21st. The regular shareholders' meeting of Korea Zinc will be held on the 28th.
The Korea ESG Standards Institute particularly opposed the reappointment of candidate Seo Dae-won for the outside director position (separately elected) to become an audit committee member. It made clear that it expressed opposition to the new appointments of existing outside directors Kwon Soon-beom and Lee Min-ho, indicating a lack of confidence in all existing board members.
A representative of the Korea ESG Standards Institute noted, "Except for Young Poong's advisory official, Jang Hyeong-jin, all board members are from Chairman Choi Yun-beom's side. To strengthen mutual checks and independence within the board, it is deemed necessary to appoint candidates from Young Poong and MBK." They recommended the appointment of six candidates from Young Poong and MBK (Kwon Kwang-seok, Kim Myung-jun, Son Ho-sang, Lee Deok-hong, Jeong Chang-hwa, Cheon Jun-beom).
The Korea ESG Standards Institute also recommended approval only for two new director candidates, James Andrew Murphy and Jeong Da-mi, who are from Chairman Choi's side. If the motion for "a cap of 19 directors" is passed at the regular shareholders' meeting, a motion for the "appointment of 8 directors through a cumulative voting system" will be presented.
Additionally, the Korea ESG Standards Institute stated that they should convert 2 trillion won in arbitrary reserves into retained earnings for the purpose of buying back company stock, similar to ISS and Glass Lewis.
The Korea ESG Standards Institute explained, "After the management dispute intensified, we have been disposing of our treasury stock to the employee stock ownership association for free, which raises unnecessary controversy, as it appears that the stock held for the purpose of securing friendly shares. We believe that the shareholder proposal to convert more undistributed retained earnings into treasury stock for the purpose of buybacks is more aligned with enhancing long-term shareholder value."