"A director without qualifications recommended a candidate for outside director. This violates the articles of incorporation."
"Director Cho Seung-ah, who is embroiled in a qualifications controversy, must return the salary received during 1 year and 9 months of service."
"The board of directors is failing to perform its checks and oversight and is becoming the center of an influence-peddling cartel. Without board reform, normalizing KT will be difficult. Just as CEO Kim Young-shub is stepping down to take responsibility for the hacking incident, all directors should resign."
At KT's 2026 regular shareholders meeting held on the 31st at the KT Research and Development Center on Taebong-ro in Seocho-gu, Seoul, shareholders' sharp rebukes stood out more than the appointment of CEO Park Yun-young. Shareholders and the union cited the lack of the board's check-and-balance function, the controversy over former outside director Cho Seung-ah, and prolonged stock underperformance all at once, pressing that "enhancing shareholder value and reforming the board come first."
The key issue on the floor was the controversy over former outside director Cho Seung-ah. After Cho concurrently served as an outside director at Hyundai Steel, an affiliate of Hyundai Motor Group, in Mar. last year, it was belatedly confirmed that Cho lost eligibility as an outside director when KT's largest shareholder changed to Hyundai Motor Group. KT disclosed the matter in Dec. last year and processed the resignation, but shareholders criticized the process from appointment to vetting to follow-up review as sloppy, viewing the case not as a mere personnel flap but as a symbol of the board's failure of oversight.
At the meeting, criticism continued over the process of appointing Cho and the propriety of compensation paid. A KT shareholder surnamed Cho raised an issue that the recovery of compensation paid over 1 year and 9 months to former outside director Cho Seung-ah, who stepped down amid the qualifications controversy, was not reflected in the business report and other filings. KT board chair Kim Young-shub said, "We reviewed the matter, but it does not fall under disclosure correction. Based on court precedents, since actual work was performed, we concluded that clawing back the compensation is not appropriate."
Another shareholder, a person surnamed Lee (60), vented frustration over prolonged stock underperformance. Lee said, "I bought KT shares in 1998 for about 180,000 won. If I had bought an apartment with that money, it would be 5 billion won now," adding, "People around me say I blew the price of four apartments. Unlike Samsung Electronics stock, which trended upward, KT is still below half of its IT bubble peak." The criticism is that even with improvements in performance and dividends, there is no enhancement of shareholder value that long-term investors can feel.
KT officially appointed Park Yun-young as CEO at the meeting. Park joined Korea Telecom in 1992 and is an internal executive who served as head of the corporate business division, head of the future business development unit, and head of the convergence research institute. The company described Park as a figure who led growth in B2B and broadened KT's core growth axis around corporations.
All nine agenda items, including the appointment of the CEO, approval of financial statements, partial amendments to the articles of incorporation, and appointments of inside and outside directors, passed as originally proposed. Park Hyun-jin, head of kt Millie Seojae, was appointed as an inside director, and Kim Young-han, a Soongsil University professor, Kwon Myung-sook, former Intel Korea head, and Seo Jin-seok, former EY Han Young head, were appointed as outside directors and audit committee members.
The company also emphasized its commitment to shareholder returns and corporate governance improvements. Financial statements showing 28.2442 trillion won in consolidation revenue and 2.4691 trillion won in operating profit for 2025 were approved, and the fourth-quarter dividend was set at 600 won per share to be paid on Apr. 15. KT increased its annual per-share dividends to 2,400 won, up 20% from the prior year, and said it plans to pursue a 250 billion won share buyback and cancellation this year.
It also rolled out plans to expand shareholder communications. Following last year, KT conducted a live online broadcast of the meeting for preregistered shareholders this year, and said it will introduce an electronic shareholders meeting enabling real-time online participation and voting starting with the 2027 regular shareholders meeting. The articles amendment also included expanding directors' duty of loyalty and requiring approval of plans to hold or dispose of treasury shares.
But despite these steps, the mood on site did not calm easily. Shareholders' concerns centered less on the launch of the Park Yun-young regime itself and more on how the new management would restore trust in the board and persuade long-term shareholders. The company delivered a shareholder-friendly message by highlighting dividend increases, share buybacks, and the introduction of electronic meetings, but on the floor, the demand that "shareholder returns come before business expansion" rang louder. One shareholder said, "Do not pour more money into expanding businesses through octopus-like management; increase shareholder dividends," adding, "This year's dividend is set at the same 2,400 won as last year; it should be raised to 2,800 won."
The KT shareholders meeting that day became a venue where the issue of board responsibility overshadowed the appointment of the new CEO. A telecommunications industry official said, "The first task for the Park administration is not only to present growth strategies for B2B (business-to-business) and AX (AI transformation), but to restore trust so the board no longer appears to be a closed board."