Korea Zinc asserted the legitimacy of the reappointment of CEO Park Gi-deok, which was criticized by MBK Partners and Young Poong, and noted that Vice Chairman Kim Kwang-il of MBK Partners should, in fact, resign from the board.

Korea Zinc stated in a statement on the 9th that the reappointment of CEO Park is "a natural outcome" and that "he is an essential figure responsible for securing the company’s future profits by achieving the highest quarterly sales since its founding amid a challenging business environment.”

Park Ki-deok, CEO of Korea Zinc, is leaving after concluding a press conference regarding the results of the extraordinary general meeting and related issues held at the Grand Hyatt Seoul in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on Jan. 24. /Courtesy of News1

Korea Zinc held a board meeting the previous day to announce its first-quarter results and decided to retire all of its treasury shares, totaling 2,043,000, which were acquired last year. It appointed outside director Hwang Deok-nam as the chairman of the board and reappointed CEO Park.

Korea Zinc pointed out that the opposition from MBK Partners and Young Poong regarding CEO Park's reappointment, citing his status as a suspect, was particularly malicious, stating, "The opposing side had requested an investigation through the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), which was initiated due to their hostile position against the company and management as complainants."

That morning, representatives from MBK Partners and Young Poong stated in a position paper that "it is appropriate to suspend the appointment of the CEO until a determination is made regarding the violation of capital market laws," adding that "CEO Park is one of the individuals identified as a suspect for violation of capital market laws during the prosecution's search of Korea Zinc last month, due to his involvement in alleged fraudulent trading during last year's capital increase announcement."

Korea Zinc remarked, "If we follow their claims, Kim Kwang-il, the CEO of Homeplus, who caused harm to national retirement funds like the pension funds, is under investigation for violations of capital market laws and the criminal code and should immediately resign from the joint CEO position at Homeplus as well as his position on the board of Korea Zinc," and that "Director Kang Seong-du, who collaborated with them, should do the same."