Next President of KT&G to be Chosen in March

According to a report by the South Korean newspaper Korea Economic Daily on January 12, tobacco manufacturer KT&G (Korean Tobacco & Ginseng Corporation) announced a list of 24 candidates for its next president on the 11th. The final candidate will be selected by the end of February and officially confirmed at the regular shareholders' meeting in March.

There are a total of 14 external candidates, including 8 applicants from public recruitment and 6 candidates recommended by headhunting firms. The internal candidates consist of 10 individuals from the senior management training program, while the current president Baek Bok-in has been excluded from the list of potential candidates for the next president.

According to relevant regulations and bylaws, the selection process for the president of KT&G takes approximately three months and involves three stages: "Supervisory Committee - President Candidate Nomination Committee - Shareholders' Meeting Approval".

Following the recommendations of a five-member advisory team, the regulatory committee has begun its formal review of the candidate list for the position of CEO (longlist). The regulatory committee intends to finalize the candidates to be recommended to the CEO candidate recommendation committee (hereinafter referred to as the recommendation committee) by the end of this month.

The recommendation committee is set to review the candidates for the presidency (second-round shortlist) and will publicly announce the reduced list in mid-February. The final candidates are expected to be determined by the end of February. Ultimately, the next president will be chosen based on the collective will of all shareholders at the regular shareholders' meeting in late March.

According to reports, Baek Jong-su, chairman of the regulatory structure committee of KT&G, stated that he emphasized the need for a new leadership at KT&G in order to achieve a greater global leap and respected President Baek Bok-in's decision to resign. He also stated that they will conduct a thorough assessment of the candidates for the presidency, based on the principle of maximizing the interests of all shareholders and the future value of the company.