KT&G Company Elects New CEO and Chairman of the Board

According to a report by the South Korean news agency Yonhap, KT&G Corporation has elected Bang Kyung-man as the new CEO and Chairman at its regular shareholders' meeting. Additionally, KT&G has elected Sun Dong-hwan, a professor at Sungkyunkwan University Law School, as an outside director.

The newly appointed chairman, Bang Kyung-man, was promoted from within KT&G company, maintaining the tradition of not hiring executives from outside the company for nearly 20 years. He joined KT&G in 1998 and has held various positions in the company's core departments, such as brand director, global director, strategic planning director, and business director, accumulating a wealth of experience.

During his tenure as the head of the brand department, Bang Kyung-man significantly increased the brand awareness of the ultra-thin tobacco product "Esse" and greatly expanded its export markets, earning high praise from industry insiders. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in South Korea and a Master's degree in Business Administration from the University of New Hampshire in the United States.

In order to elect new directors and external directors, the shareholders' meeting adopted a "comprehensive centralized voting" method, conducting simultaneous voting for internal and external directors and selecting the top two candidates with the most votes. The newly elected chairman of the board, Bang Kyung-man, and KT&G Board Chairman Yoon Minkyu, were both recommended by the board. External director Sun Donghwan was recommended by the largest shareholder, the Industrial Bank, which holds 7.11% of KT&G shares.

According to analysis, corporate banks will allocate all of their voting rights to Sun Donghuan, while the activist investment fund Flashlight Capital Partners (FCP) has also stated that they will support Sun Donghuan. The National Pension Service, which holds 6.64% of the shares, has informed that they will vote in favor of Bang Kyung-man and Sun Donghuan.

According to reports, KT&G CEO has not been replaced for 9 years, and has been led by internal personnel for more than 20 years since privatization. This time, it is still being led by internal personnel.