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Cho Hyun-bum, Chairman of Hankook Tire & Technology.
(Photo courtesy of Yonhap News Agency) |
[Alpha Biz= Paul Lee] Cho Hyun-bum, chairman of Hankook & Company Group, has stepped down from his position as chief executive officer of Hankook & Company, the group’s holding company.
Hankook & Company said on February 20 that its board of directors convened at the company’s Pangyo headquarters in Gyeonggi Province and resolved to shift from a co-CEO structure to a single-CEO system following Cho’s resignation as a registered director. As a result, the company will move from a dual leadership structure led by Cho Hyun-bum and Park Jong-ho to a sole-CEO system under Park Jong-ho.
A company official explained that Cho’s decision was made to prevent internal family issues from affecting the board’s independence. “Recent family-related matters have escalated into issues affecting board operations, undermining the board’s independence and integrity,” the official said. “Chairman Cho decided to step down to avoid placing unnecessary burdens on a company governed by a board-centered management structure.”
In January, a court ruled in favor of Cho’s older brother, Cho Hyun-sik, former advisor to Hankook & Company, in a lawsuit seeking to invalidate resolutions passed at a shareholders’ meeting. The court found that at the company’s annual general meeting in March last year, Cho Hyun-bum improperly exercised voting rights on an agenda item concerning the board’s compensation cap despite having a conflict of interest.
Industry observers note that Cho’s reference to “family-related issues” reflects concerns that ongoing sibling disputes were increasingly influencing corporate decision-making processes, prompting his resignation as a registered director.
Alphabiz Reporter Paul Lee(hoondork1977@alphabiz.co.kr)
