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Kangwon Land's CEO Nomination Committee Inactive for 6 Months: "Is There Any Will to Appoint a CEO?"

[비즈한국] The process of appointing the next CEO of Kangwon Land035250 has been sluggish. Kangwon Land’s CEO position has been vacant for over a year since former CEO Lee Sam-geol resigned in December 2023. Currently, Choi Chul-kyu, Vice President of Kangwon Land, is serving as the acting CEO. Amid this, it has been confirmed that the Executive Nomination Committee (ENC), responsible for nominating the next CEO, has not held a single activity for the past six months. There are also no plans for the committee's future operations, raising doubts about whether Kangwon Land has any real intention of appointing a CEO.

Kangwon Land held a board meeting last August to form the ENC for the appointment of a CEO. The committee consists of five members: three non-standing directors and two members appointed by the board of directors. The specific list of members has not been disclosed, citing concerns that it could hinder fair operations.

According to BizHankook's investigation, the committee has not held a single meeting in the six months since its formation. Kangwon Land explains that it has been difficult to coordinate schedules among members due to academic commitments, holiday seasons, and national audits. The issue is that the committee has not even shown the will to begin operations, failing to establish even a basic meeting schedule. This fuels doubts regarding their commitment to the CEO appointment. This is unusual even compared to the past; when former CEO Lee Sam-geol was appointed, Kangwon Land formed an ENC in November 2020 and issued a public call for CEO candidates that same December.

A Kangwon Land official stated, "Some members are professors with academic schedules, and there were also preparations for national audits, which led to the postponements. There is no set schedule yet, but we plan to prepare and proceed with the process."

Some suspect that political circumstances are at play. The structure of appointing Kangwon Land directors is heavily influenced by the administration's intentions. The CEO of Kangwon Land is appointed by the President upon the recommendation of the ENC, followed by deliberations and resolutions by the Public Institution Management Committee and the shareholders' meeting, and a proposal by the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy. The standing auditor is appointed by the President upon the proposal of the Minister of Economy and Finance. Non-standing directors are appointed by the Minister of Economy and Finance, while standing directors are appointed by the CEO of Kangwon Land.

All of Kangwon Land’s current directors, including Acting CEO Choi Chul-kyu, were appointed after the launch of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration. They are evaluated as being "in sync" with the current government. After the Yoon administration took office, Choi served as the inaugural Secretary to the President for National Integration. Kwon Soon-young, a former Goyang City Council member affiliated with the People Power Party, and Lim Nam-kyu, a former Gangwon Provincial Council member, were also named as non-standing directors. Since individuals close to President Yoon Suk-yeol dominate the board, analysts suggest the ENC feels no pressure to rush the appointment of a new CEO.

The martial law situation that occurred last December could also act as a variable. Following the National Assembly’s passage of the impeachment motion against President Yoon Suk-yeol, the possibility of an early presidential election is being discussed. If an early election is held, the administration could change as early as the first half of this year. Even if Kangwon Land proceeds with a public call for candidates, the final appointment would take two to three months; if the administration changes during that period, shifts could occur based on the next president's intentions. This explains why the ENC appears hesitant to make any rash moves.

In fact, Kangwon Land CEOs have historically been individuals with deep ties to the administration in power. Former CEO Ham Seung-hee took office in 2014 during the Park Geun-hye administration; he had previously run for office as a member of the Pro-Park Coalition in the 2008 general election. In 2017, after President Moon Jae-in took office, Moon Tae-gon, former Second Secretary-General of the Board of Audit and Inspection, was appointed as CEO. Moon is known as a pro-Roh Moo-hyun figure who served as the Secretary to the President for Civil Service Discipline during the Roh administration.

Allegations of "parachute" appointments continued into the 2020s. Former CEO Lee Sam-geol, who took office in 2021, ran for office as a member of the Democratic Party in the 2020 general election. Shim Gyu-ho, who was appointed as Vice President around the same time, is a former aide to Lee Kwang-jae, a former Democratic Party lawmaker. Neither had any previous experience in the resort or casino leisure industry.

Gangwon Province Governor Kim Jin-tae pledged to eradicate parachute appointments at Kangwon Land during the 2022 local elections. However, the process of appointing a CEO at Kangwon Land has not changed significantly since Governor Kim took office. Kangwon Land continues to hold open recruitment for the CEO position through an ENC, just as it did in the past. A Gangwon provincial official stated, "Because the CEO is recruited publicly through the ENC, we believe it is different from a parachute appointment. As the ENC is a legal procedure, we cannot change it arbitrarily."