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| Kumho Petrochemical Senior Executive Vice President Park Jun-kyung |
Kumho Petrochemical plans to appoint Chairman Park Chan-koo's oldest son, Senior Executive Vice President Park Jun-kyung, as the new executive director next month in an apparent attempt to accelerate a family succession.
The petrochemical firm said in its regulatory filing Friday that it will hold an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders on July 21 to vote on the proposals to appoint the senior executive vice president as an executive director and give the seats of external directors to former Public Procurement Service Administrator Kwon Tae-kyun and former Korea Chemicals Management Association Vice Chairwoman Lee Jee-yoon.
"The resignations of several board members, including Education Minister nominee Park Soon-ae, have created vacancies for our board of directors, so we decided to hold an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders," a Kumho Petrochemical official said.
The younger Park is a grandson of the late Kumho Petrochemical founder Park In-chon.
Once he joins the board, he will be able to tighten his control further over the conglomerate.
After graduating from Korea University, the 44-year-old heir joined Kumho Tire in 2007 and moved in 2010 to Kumho Petrochemical, where he has served as an executive in charge of sales.
Last year, he was promoted to senior executive vice president, while his younger sister, Park Ju-hyung, was promoted to executive vice president.
The siblings have expanded their presence in Kumho Petrochemical after their father consolidated his and his children's control of the company by winning in last year's dispute with his nephew, former Senior Vice President Park Chul-whan, the company's single-largest shareholder with an 8.58-percent stake.
Following the victory, the Kumho Petrochemical chairman resigned as the representative director, giving the position of CEO to a professional manager, Senior Executive Vice President Baek Jong-hoon.
The chairman still holds a 6.7-percent stake in Kumho Petrochemical, while his son and daughter own a 7.2-percent stake and a 1-percent stake, respectively.
The nephew and his allies are estimated to hold around a 10-percent stake in the petrochemical company.
In March, he lost to his uncle once again in a legal dispute over the control of the company.
Although some minority shareholders of Kumho Petrochemical have asked the former senior vice president to prevent the chairman's son from joining the board of directors, it is uncertain whether or not he will take any action.
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