Young Poong–MBK Partners consortium (hereinafter Young Poong–MBK) reacted positively to the resignation of four outside directors of Korea Zinc who had been suspended from duty, calling it "a belated but correct decision."
Young Poong–MBK said in a statement on the 2nd, "The four outside directors who recently resigned were elected at an extraordinary general meeting of Korea Zinc shareholders in Jan. 2025, but due to legal defects in that meeting, they had been suspended from duty by the court," adding, "The fundamental responsibility for their inability to contribute to the board by exercising their expertise lies solely with inside director (chair) Choi Yoon-beom's side."
Choi's side, on the day before the extraordinary shareholders meeting in Jan. last year, transferred 10.3% equity in Young Poong held by the Choi family to SMC, Korea Zinc's Australian affiliate. This created an offshore circular shareholding and cross-shareholding relationship that restricted Young Poong's voting rights.
At the time, the court found that Choi's side violated the intent of the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act's restriction on forming cross-shareholdings, causing defects in the effectiveness of the extraordinary shareholders meeting, and issued an injunction prohibiting the four elected outside directors from performing their duties. They voluntarily resigned on the 29th of last month.
Young Poong–MBK interpreted the move by saying, "Although the ostensible reason for the resignation is 'personal reasons,' some of the defects arising from past unlawful infringement of shareholder rights have, as a result, been corrected."
They added, "We will take this case as another milestone in normalizing Korea Zinc's damaged governance," and "We will continue to do our part to improve transparent governance and enhance shareholder value."