The CEO Candidate Recommendation Committee of POSCO Holdings finally chose former POSCO President Jang In-hwa, a long-time POSCO insider, with rich experience in the steel business.
POSCO Holdings held an extraordinary board meeting on Feb. 8 and resolved to select former POSCO President Jang In-hwa as a candidate for the position of the chairman of POSCO Group and recommend him to the general shareholders’ meeting to be held in March. Jang will officially take office as chairman of POSCO Group after the board of directors approves the nomination at the annual general shareholders meeting on Feb. 21.
Jang is a seasoned steel industry expert who has served as head of the Steel Production Headquarters and head of the Steel Division. He is immune from any internal backlash within POSCO Group including POSCO. Moreover, he has the appearance of an outsider, as he has held only an advisory role for the past three years after leaving POSCO. He is also free from being regarded as one of the pro-Choi Jung-woo faction in that he competed with incumbent Chairman Choi in the CEO selection process that took place after the retirement of former Chairman Kwon Oh-joon in 2018 and was later removed from his position at POSCO by Choi’s reshuffle.
He also has experience in new business. His experience as head of new business in the growth investment division and head of new business management in the finance and investment division is expected to play a positive role in maintaining the continuity of POSCO’s battery materials business, which is a future growth driver of POSCO Group.
Although he has been confirmed as the next chairman after a second attempt, Jang is faced with a rugged road ahead, many industry observers say. All seven independent directors on the board were accused by local civic groups of taking a junket to Canada in 2023. Jang is also facing a police investigation for allegedly taking an unnecessary lavish business trip to China in 2019. Some experts have insisted that the National Pension Service vote against the appointment of Jang as new POSCO chairman in the general shareholders meeting. The National Pension Service is the largest shareholder with a 6.71 percent stake in POSCO Holdings.
Even if Jang takes over as chairman, he will face tons of work. Due to the sluggish steel industry, POSCO Holdings only racked up consolidated sales of 77.12 trillion won (US$55.87 billion) last year. This was a drop of about 8.9 trillion won from the 86 trillion won targeted at the end of 2022. After reaching 12.1 percent in 2021, POSCO Holdings’ operating profit margin shrank to 5.7 percent in 2022 and then to 4.6 percent in 2023.
POSCO also needs to improve its relationship with the Korean government. Choi, who took office as POSCO chairman under former President Moon Jae-in, has been plagued by a series of feuds with the incumbent President. Choi has not been invited to join any of the President’s overseas tours since the Yoon administration was inaugurated.
Demand for carbon neutrality is also a tough task for the new chairman. POSCO produces steel by melting iron ore using high-carbon coke in blast furnaces, a process that emits huge amounts of carbon. With eight blast furnaces in operation, POSCO is the largest emitter of carbon among Korean companies. As of 2026, it will have to pay an additional fee when exporting steel products to the European Union (EU) if it emits more carbon than products made in Europe. POSCO is increasing its share of electric furnaces with relatively low carbon emissions by building the country’s largest electric furnace plant in Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province, but the share of electric furnaces is still small at POSCO.