In hopes of ending weeks of questions on its political neutrality, Posco over the weekend selected Posco Chemtech CEO Choi Jeong-woo to lead the country’s largest steelmaker, which is currently facing a myriad of challenges while attempting to diversify new growth engines.

Choi’s nomination is widely seen as a move to eliminate speculation that preceding Chairman Kwon Oh-joon had exerted influence in the selection process, while underscoring the company’s drive to bolster its non-steel businesses.

“I believe that Posco will be in need of a different set of mind and conviction than it has before. ... Together with executives and staff I hope to boost Posco’s global competitiveness and leap forward as a company that shapes the future,” Choi said in a statement sent out Sunday.

“After listening to many opinions from outside stakeholders, I plan to deliver detailed management plans in the near future.”

Posco Chemtech is a subsidiary of Posco that produces anode materials used to make electric vehicle batteries.

If Choi is approved at next month’s general meeting and board meeting, he would become Posco’s first-ever chairman with a nonengineering background and the first chief in 20 years without a degree from Seoul National University, the company emphasized. 

During the company’s 50th anniversary celebrated in April, Kwon had said Posco would post 500 trillion won ($450 billion) in earnings in the next 50 years, among which the nonsteel businesses would account for some 60 percent.

Kwon had invested about 100 billion won in the secondary lithium battery business for the past eight years, building a plant in Posco’s steel mill in Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province.

Choi, 61, graduated Pusan National University and joined Posco in 1983.

Seen as an expert in finance strategy planning and corporate strategy development, Choi took post as the head of the Posco Value Management Office, the company’s de facto control tower, in 2015.

He has also led Posco’s four-year restructuring efforts under Kwon, and was named president of Posco together with Oh In-hwan in March 2017.

Although incumbent President and Chief Operating Officer Oh In-hwan and Vice President Chang In-hwa had been mentioned as the most likely to take office, neither made it to the final round, possibly due to their widely known close ties with Kwon.

Posco’s council of five outside board members had struggled to nominate a new leader after Kwon stepped down in a surprise announcement in April following investigations for his alleged involvement in the influence-peddling scandal involving Choi Soon-sil and former President Park Geun-hye.

The closed-door selection process managed by the council, run by outside board members tapped by former Chairman Kwon, had sparked controversy from politicians, businessmen and civic groups.

“The steel industry faces a tough environment due to oversupply and intensified trade regulation, and the nonsteel segment also needs a groundbreaking leap forward. We are in need of a figure with innovative leadership who can lead Posco toward a greater 50 years ahead,” the council said in a statement.

With all eyes on Choi’s eligibility to lead the world’s fifth-biggest steelmaker, the council’s decision will be put to vote at the general meeting and board meeting July 27.

By Kim Bo-gyung (lisakim425@heraldcorp.com)