National Pension Service Advised to Be More Prudent in Objecting to Executive Appointments

The Korea Listed Companies Association stated on March 24 that a lot of its members are concerned about the National Pension Service’s decisions against executive appointments in companies such as Samsung BioLogics.

“At the upcoming shareholder meeting of Samsung BioLogics, which is the first one after the introduction of the stewardship code, the National Pension Service should make a decision in the interest of enterprise and shareholder values instead of excessively focusing on checking the management,” it said, adding, “The National Pension Service already expressed an objection to Samsung BioLogics’ executive appointments and is expected to do so with regard to Korean Air, yet it may incur significant losses on the part of the companies and its shareholders and creditors once the companies’ executives are acquitted by the court and, as such, the National Pension Service needs to be very prudent in making decisions.”

“The National Pension Service’s objection to those companies’ executive appointments based solely on allegations is unacceptable,” it went on to say. Mentioning as an example the appointment of Hyundai Group chairperson Hyun Jeong-eun as a director of Hyundai Elevator, in which the National Pension Service abstained recently, the association said that the National Pension Service should focus on communication with enterprises and shareholder value enhancement with regard to the stewardship code.