NPS corp governance committee taps SNU professor as member

A corporate governance committee of South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS), the world's third-largest pension fund, has named a Seoul National University professor as a member after one of its members left last month to work for the ruling People Power party in the general election.

Kim Woojin, a professor at Seoul National University Business School majoring in corporate governance and control-related issues, is set to serve as a member of the NPS advisory committee for improving the system of rules, practices and processes by which a company is directed and controlled, according to investment banking industry sources on Monday. He will be in charge of the voting rights division in the committee.

Kim has already been a member of the investment policy committee, which covers the NPS’ asset allocations.

COMPLETION OF NINE-MEMBER COMMITTEE

The corporate governance committee lost a member in January when Kim Gyeong-ryul, an accountant who raised issues on the US private equity firm Lone Star Funds’ acquisition of a local bank, resigned to join the ruling party's emergency leadership committee for the April election.

The appointment of Professor Kim completes the nine-member committee chaired by Kim Hwa-jin, a professor at Seoul National University’s law school.

The committee focuses on NPS’ policies on corporate governance structures and shareholder rights exercises. It was founded last December to check and advise on the environmental, social, and governance (ESG)-related activities of the National Pension Fund Management Committee.

The corporate governance committee has three divisions – corporate governance improvement, voting rights and stewardship code.

Write to Byeong-Hwa Ryu at hwahwa@hankyung.com
 
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.