[비즈한국] Cho Won-tae, Chairman of Hanjin Group, was reappointed as an executive director at the Hanjin KAL180640 annual general shareholders' meeting held on March 26. Hanjin KAL held its 13th annual general shareholders' meeting at the Hanjin Building in Jung-gu, Seoul, on this day and approved all six agenda items, including the reappointment of Chairman Cho, as originally proposed. Consequently, Chairman Cho will continue to serve as an executive director of Hanjin KAL for the next three years.
At this general meeting, the motion for Chairman Cho's reappointment passed despite opposition from the National Pension Service (NPS). The NPS, a major shareholder holding a 5.44% stake in Hanjin KAL, exercised its voting rights against the motion, citing that Chairman Cho had neglected his duty of oversight regarding actions that damaged corporate value and infringed upon shareholder rights. However, the reappointment was approved with a 93.77% approval rating. The agenda item to maintain the limit on director remuneration at 12 billion won was also passed with a 71.67% approval rating.
The significance of this general meeting lies more in the shareholding structure than the reappointment itself. According to Hanjin KAL's business report, as of the end of last year, Hoban Construction's stake in Hanjin KAL stood at 18.78%, narrowing the gap with Chairman Cho's 20.56% stake to just 1.78 percentage points. However, when including friendly shares held by parties such as Delta Air Lines (14.90%) and the Korea Development Bank (10.58%), the total comes to 46.04%, representing a 27.26 percentage point gap with Hoban Construction. While the gap in direct shareholdings has narrowed, this meeting reaffirmed that the structure of friendly shares remains favorable to Chairman Cho's side.
Hanjin KAL also processed amendments to its articles of incorporation on this day. The agenda items passed included the introduction of electronic shareholders' meetings following amendments to the Commercial Act, a name change for independent directors, and a reduction in the maximum number of directors stipulated in the articles of incorporation from 11 to 9. The proposed changes presented by Hanjin KAL in the general meeting notice and reference documents included adjustments to the size of the board of directors.
Chairman Cho's side emphasized continuity ahead of the launch of the integrated airline at the meeting. In his opening remarks, Chairman Cho stated that the launch of the integrated airline is a turning point for creating new growth momentum for Hanjin Group and promised to carry out pending tasks without any setbacks. Korean Air003490 and Asiana Airlines020560 maintain their plan to complete the merger process within this year and launch the integrated Korean Air starting next year.
Ultimately, this Hanjin KAL general meeting will be recorded as a venue that reaffirmed the trust in Chairman Cho's leadership and the structure of friendly shareholdings at the first annual meeting since Hoban Construction increased its stake. Although the gap in direct shareholdings has narrowed to the 1% range, the figures have confirmed that the practical balance of power for defending management control still tilts toward Chairman Cho's side ahead of the integrated airline's launch.