Lawyer Kim Jong-bo “National Pension Service, POSCO Chairman Choi Jeong-Woo, should be wary



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POSCO is loud. Subsequent safety accidents and environmental pollution problems are serious. Negative factors, such as the deterioration of management indicators, also overlap. In the end, the responsibility must rest with President Jeong-woo Choi. However, he is aiming for a second term at the March shareholders meeting.

Because of this, critical voices against President Choi are increasing. Lawyer Jong-bo Kim of the People’s Economic Committee, a meeting of lawyers for a democratic society, is also criticizing. On January 27, he warned outside POSCO headquarters in Gangnam that “POSCO Chairman Choi Jeong-woo should be nervous.”

This is through the interventions of civil society organizations such as Participación Solidaria, the POSCO Branch and the Internal Subcontracting Branch of POSCO in the conference ‘Press Conference Call for the Appointment of Directors of Public Interest of POSCO, seedbed of environmental pollution, occupational cancer and work accidents ”.

What is the reason you make criticism day so simple? On the 4th, a non-face-to-face interview was held with lawyer Kim Jong-bo.

“The national pension must be exercised by shareholders’ rights”

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 Attorney Jongbo Kim at a press conference in front of POSCO headquarters in Seoul on January 27

Attorney Jongbo Kim at a press conference in front of POSCO headquarters in Seoul on January 27
Ⓒ Solidarity Internet Journalists

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In connection with pointing out POSCO’s problems through a press conference in front of POSCO’s headquarters in Gangnam, Seoul on January 27, lawyer Jong-bo Kim said, “POSCO has been dumping a large amount of pollutants from the air without permission while abroad, while proposing the construction of an ecological steelworks.

“As a result, the cancer death rate of Pohang City residents is 1.37 times the national average, the first in the country, and the cancer death rate of residents in the Pohang Industrial Complex exposed to air pollution is 1.72 times the national average. ” he even filed a complaint with the Prosecutor’s Office for violating the Air Conservation Law due to the fact that the automatic measurement device was not installed ”.

Attorney Kim also said, “A total of 18 workers were killed in industrial accidents during the three years from 2018 to 2020 at POSCO’s workplace,” he said. “The Ministry of Employment and Labor on January 17, ‘Posco Pohang works and 55 Partners went. He said,’ It violated the Health and Safety Law. ‘” POSCO laid off three executives when a union was established under the KCTU in the company, but the Seoul Administrative Court ruled that he was unfairly fired on November 13, 2020, “he added.” He violated the Labor Relations Law. “

In an interview, attorney Kim directed POSCO to establish a compliance system with executive accountability to resolve such issues. In other words, “POSCO must admit that it has broken the law itself and hold management accountable for the crime,” he said. “And in forming a new management team, you must have a culture and system in place to never break the law again.”

Attorney Kim said, “POSCO has violated the Air Quality Conservation Act, the Occupational Health and Safety Act, and the Labor Standards Act.” In particular, it is very likely that it was promoted.

Lawyer Kim urged President Choi to resign. He noted that “President Choi must feel his responsibilities and step down,” he said, “there is sufficient reason to resign with only lowering the confidence of POSCO, a national company, by committing illegal acts that have been recognized by the administration agency and the court. “.

They also ordered the national code of pension administration (principle of fiduciary responsibility). Lawyer Kim said: “The Administration Code has spread around the world since the UK introduced it in 2010.” “The principle of administrator responsibility consists of a total of seven. Among them, the third principle is’ The medium and long-term value of the company in which it is going to invest.” “It is necessary to periodically verify the target companies of investment so that the value of investment assets can be preserved and increased by improving the value of the investment ”.

He added: “To faithfully operate as a trustee in charge of people’s money, the National Pension Plan must periodically verify non-financial factors such as environmental, social and governance (ESG) in addition to the financial factors of the investment. Target companies.” .

Attorney Kim said: “The National Pension Service is the largest shareholder with 11.75% of POSCO shares.” “The National Pension Service is involved in environmental and labor misconduct, so that POSCO, an investment target company, can grow further in the long term in accordance with the principle of administrator responsibility. We should be suspicious of President Choi Jung- woo “.

He said, “That’s why other CEOs will think, ‘You have to protect the environment and obey labor laws so you don’t get fired.’ He stressed that “POSCO can only fulfill its social responsibilities when the managerial attitude changes.”

Lawyer Jong-bo Kim said: “For POSCO to grow, it will be essential to carry out and sell well-done corporate activities” and “Still, there should be no environmental pollution,” he stressed.

“It is because there is great concern that export destination countries, such as the United States, will refuse to trade due to environmental contamination from POSCO.” “In the short term, compliance with environmental regulations can generate costs and lower profitability. in the long term, environmental regulations are enforced, it is more advantageous to obey ”, he advised.

Lastly, “ensuring the lives and rights of POSCO employees can be seen as the growth of POSCO,” he said. “In the end, a corporate culture has spread that considers that non-financial indicators are important for the growth of a company, and only if there is a management that can implement this. For this, the National Pension Plan must exercise the rights of shareholders more actively than at the POSCO shareholders meeting in March, ”he urged.

Additional text | This article also appears in Sinmungo News.

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