![Korea Zinc Chairman Choi Yoon-beom delivers remarks at the company’s 51st anniversary ceremony on July 31, 2025. [Photo=Korea Zinc]](https://image.ajunews.com/content/image/2026/02/23/20260223201519881271.jpg)
On Sunday, Korea Zinc said it held an extraordinary board meeting and confirmed it will convene its 52nd annual general meeting of shareholders on March 24 at the Koreana Hotel in Seoul’s Jung District. With the company agreeing to put many items proposed by major shareholders on the agenda, the meeting is expected to be a turning point in the management control dispute.
The main focus is the election of new directors. Of the 19 board seats, four directors have had their duties suspended under a court injunction, leaving 11 aligned with Choi and four aligned with MBK Partners and Young Poong, the company said. The terms of six inside and outside directors, including Choi and an adviser identified as Jang, expired on Feb. 16.
Both sides are expected to wage a close vote battle over the six openings. The MBK-Young Poong alliance recommended five new director candidates, including Choi Yeon-seok, a partner at MBK Partners, and Park Byung-wook, for non-executive director posts, the company said.
Korea Zinc nominated two candidates, including Choi, and also put forward Walter Field McLellan as a new outside director nominee recommended by Crucible, a joint venture tied to a smelter project in Clarksville, Tennessee.
Choi’s side holds 44% in friendly stakes, narrowly ahead of the MBK-Young Poong alliance at 41%, according to the company. If all three company-backed nominees are elected, the board would be reshaped to a 9-6 split favoring Choi’s camp, it said.
Another variable is an ongoing Financial Supervisory Service accounting review involving Korea Zinc and Young Poong. Depending on the outcome, Choi’s management decisions could come under scrutiny, potentially affecting the agenda item on his reappointment as an inside director.
At Sunday’s extraordinary board meeting, Korea Zinc accepted most agenda items proposed by MBK Partners and Young Poong. The alliance had asked the company to include items to appoint an interim chair; set the number of directors to be elected at six; elect five directors, including two non-executive directors and three outside directors; convert 392.5 billion won in discretionary reserves into retained earnings; amend the articles of incorporation to introduce an executive officer system and conduct a stock split; and approve revisions to rules governing executive retirement payments.
Korea Zinc said it will submit all but the interim chair appointment item to the annual meeting agenda.
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.