Coveted 2007 Corporate
Governance Award Winners

KCGS announces the list of 2007 award-winning companies

The Korea Corporate Governance Service (KCGS) selected the 2007 Corporate Governance Awards during a meeting held on June 13. The 2007 Corporate Governance Honorable Company Awards went to two exchange- listed companies - KT and KT&G - and one KOSDAQ-listed company LG Telecom.
POSCO, Woori Financial Holdings and SK Telecom were winners of the 2007 Corporate Governance Grand Prize among exchange-listed companies.
Jeonbuk Bank, SK, KTF, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. and Poolmoowon, became the winners of the 2007 Corporate Governance Excellent Company among the exchange-listed companies, while five KOSDAQ-listed companies, Daum Communications, Kooksoondang, LG Micron, CDNetworks and ModeTour received the coveted award.
KT and LG Telecom have been selected as the 2007 Excellent Award in Board of Directors category among the exchange-listed and KOSDAQ-listed companies, respectively.
KT, the 2007 Corporate Governance Honorable Company Award winner, declared its intention to ensure transparent management and improve corporate governance by putting the Chapter of Corporate Governance and the code of officers and staff members’ code of conduct on public notice. An outside director has been selected to preside over the board of directors to ensure and an outside audit has been appointed through a public bidding process to ensure independence. KT is praised for returning the achievements of its business performances to shareholders by offering higher dividends for the past three years.
KT&G, also the 2007 Corporate Governance Honorable Company, has been credited with having strengthened checks and surveillance against management by introducing a senior outside director system in which outside directors take the lead in the activities of the board of directors. All details related to corporate governance, including board of directors and auditors activities against management are posted on its website to give access to corporate information.
Corporate competitiveness has become a key factor in defining the overall competitiveness of a country on the international stage as the domain of national economies expands beyond physical borders. In the process, good corporate governance systems and managerial transparency have become crucial factors in investment decisions in the global capital market.
The Korean government and private institutions have made strenuous efforts to promote good corporate governance practices for Korea companies, comparable to those of advanced countries. Each year, KCGS selects companies with good corporate governance practices and honors them as a part of the efforts to motivate Korean companies to improve their corporate governance. The selection criteria for the award were originally developed in 2000 by the Committee on Corporate Governance (CCG) of the Korea Stock Exchange (KSE). The KSE selected 8 companies for the award in 2001. The KCGS overtook the selection function from the KSE in 2002, and the newly organized CCG, now chaired by the President of the KCGS, amended the selection criteria based on the revised Code of Best Practice in Corporate Governance. The award is believed to have contributed to the investing community’s awareness of the importance of good corporate governance and shareholder-oriented management among Korean companies. In 2003, the KCGS decided to expand the coverage of the award to the KOSDAQ-listed companies and further refined the selection criteria to improve the objectivity of the selection process. nw

Winners of the 2007 Corporate Governance Awards - (from left at front row) SK Telecom President Kim Shin-bae, Woori Financial Group Chairman Park Byong-won and POSCO Senior Vice President Park Ki-hong - pose with prominent figures, including Lee Young-tak, chairman of the Korea Exchange, Lim Young-rok, assistant minister of the Policy Management & Public Relations Office at MOFE, and Vice Chairman Park Yong-man of Korea Securities Dealers Association.