POSCO board of directors to decide Friday on CEO's tenure

SEOUL, Feb. 5 (Yonhap) -- The board of directors of POSCO, the world's
fourth-largest steelmaker, will decide the tenure for its new chief executive
officer (CEO) on Friday, company officials said Thursday.
Last week, the steelmaker's external board members recommended Chung Joon-yang,
head of its construction unit, as a candidate to succeed the current CEO Lee
Ku-taek.
Chung, if his appointment is approved by shareholders on Feb. 27, will take the
helm of the nation's largest steekmaker just for one year because his status as
POSCO's executive director is to end next February.
Consequently, there have been talks that a 3-year tenure guarantee should be
given for the new CEO for management stability.
"It is still unclear whether board members will grant him 3-year tenure or not,"
said a company official. All decisions by board members will be up for approvals
by shareholders later this month as well, he said.
Lee, POSCO's CEO since 2003, said last month he was stepping down to pave the way
for a new leader to help POSCO through the current difficulties. But there has
been speculation that Lee had come under pressure to resign from government,
although he denied it.
Chung, 61, joined POSCO in 1975. He has held executive positions since 2004.
sam@yna.co.kr
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