The Democratic Party of Korea will push to amend the Commercial Code to expand the 'loyalty obligations of directors' to shareholders and implement the cumulative voting system and separate election of audit committee members. Some provisions have been excluded to minimize backlash from the business sector and the People Power Party, but it has been just over a month since it was discarded when it failed to exceed the 200-seat threshold for re-vote in the National Assembly plenary session. However, the timing for presenting it to the plenary session has been postponed until right after the inauguration of the next government. If candidate Lee Jae-myung is elected, it has been arranged to not exercise the veto so that a re-vote does not occur.
According to a report by ChosunBiz on the 9th, Representative Lee Jeong-mun, the senior vice chairperson of the party's policy committee, will introduce the Commercial Code amendment bill next week. By today, signatures from co-sponsors among party-affiliated lawmakers will be collected, and the bill is planned to be submitted as early as the 12th. The Democratic Party had adopted the Commercial Code amendment bill that Representative Lee introduced last year as its official stance. As candidate Lee has publicly vowed to amend the law, there is a high possibility of pursuing this as the party's official position right after the presidential election.
The amendment includes: ▲ Expanding the 'loyalty obligations of directors' from the existing 'company' to 'company and shareholders' ▲ Ensuring that directors treat the interests of all shareholders fairly while performing their duties ▲ Requiring large listed companies as defined by presidential decree to hold electronic shareholders meetings ▲ Implementing cumulative voting for the election of directors of large listed companies ▲ Expanding the number of audit committee members elected separately to at least two. Additionally, voting rights on shares exceeding a combined 3% owned by the largest shareholder and related parties have been restricted.
Earlier, the National Assembly's Judiciary and Legislation Committee passed a Commercial Code amendment bill led by the Democratic Party that only included the 'loyalty obligations of directors' and the 'introduction of electronic shareholders meetings.' Provisions regarding 'separate election of audit committee members' and 'cumulative voting system' that were in the existing party's stance were decided to be reviewed later. This was aimed at reducing concerns from the business sector and fostering agreement within the People Power Party. The proposal that was postponed for review at that time remains pending with the Judiciary and Legislation Committee. The Democratic Party plans to combine the 'loyalty obligations' that were discarded in the plenary re-vote with the provisions still under review in the Judiciary and Legislation Committee.
Representative Lee Jeong-mun stated in a phone call, 'I plan to introduce the bill next week so that a vote in the plenary can be pursued right after the presidential election.' He also noted, 'We will merge the parts regarding the cumulative voting system and the expansion of the separate election of audit committee members that have not been reviewed by the Judiciary and Legislation Committee,' and added, 'We will ensure that only the parts discarded from the plenary session are supplemented so that it can be promoted quickly.'
The amendment to the Commercial Code is also part of candidate Lee's pledge. He appeared on the previous day's 'Economic YouTube Union Talk Show' and remarked, 'I don’t understand why the People Power Party rejects the amendment to the Commercial Code. They made a big deal about it, yet they’re a strange group,' and added, 'It is only natural that the Commercial Code should be amended.' Kwang Hoon-sik, the head of the campaign’s comprehensive situation room, also mentioned that day at the policy agreement ceremony of the KOSPI 5000 Era Committee, 'Strengthening shareholder loyalty obligations is just the beginning,' and said, 'We will also push for a 100% increase in mandatory public buyback quantities and the mandatory implementation of electronic voting.'