*This content was translated by AI.
Ahead of Korea Zinc's regular shareholders' meeting, the market's attention is focused on the direction of exercising voting rights by the National Pension Service. This is because the National Pension Service is likely to serve as a casting boat amid a vote battle between the current management and MBK Partners and Youngpoong over Korea Zinc's management rights.
The composition of the board of directors is a key issue at this shareholders' meeting, which will be held on the 24th. MBK and Youngpoong are taking steps to take control of the board of directors in the future by submitting shareholder proposals including the appointment of directors and changes to the articles of incorporation. On the other hand, Korea Zinc's current management is trying to win votes from shareholders by emphasizing management continuity in key mineral supply chain investment strategies such as U.S. smelters.
Looking at the equity structure alone, MBK and Youngpoong are evaluated to be somewhat ahead. According to the industry, the stake in voting rights of Youngpoong and MBK is about 41-42%, which is higher than the friendly stake of Korea Zinc. However, the results may vary depending on whether some shares will exercise their voting rights and the votes of institutional investors, so the choice of institutional investors such as the National Pension Service is considered a key variable that will determine the outcome.
In the process, attention is being paid to how the Homeplus incident, which still has not found an answer, will affect it. Amid the emergence of worsening management and corporate rehabilitation of Homeplus, where MBK Partners is a major shareholder, as social issues, the possibility of investor losses is growing. In particular, the capital market industry analyzes that the national pension, which has been invested in MBK, will inevitably deepen the agony of the national pension as the possibility of loss of investment has been raised. Analysts say that this could have a significant impact on the direction of the National Pension Service's voting rights as well as future investments in MBK.
In particular, amid criticism of MBK from political circles and civil society organizations, voices calling for the responsible investment of the national pension are also growing. We must not forget that the National Pension Service is not a shield for vested interests, but a public trustee who protects the assets of the entire people, Hwang Myung-sun, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea's supreme council, said at a recent Supreme Council meeting. He also stressed the need for the National Pension Service to exercise its responsible voting rights, saying, "The money that the people sweat should not be a source of funds for speculative capital."
Some analysts say that the core U.S. mineral smelter project being promoted by Korea Zinc is also an issue that could affect the votes of the National Pension Service. Korea Zinc is pushing for the construction of a large-scale smelter in Tennessee, the United States, and is building a key mineral supply chain. Amid intensifying U.S.-China strategic competition, securing key minerals has emerged as an economic security issue for countries around the world beyond Korea, further highlighting the importance of Korea Zinc's construction of a U.S. smelter. In particular, it is considered a meaningful project in terms of economic security cooperation between South Korea and the U.S., beyond economic cooperation between South Korea and the U.S., such as tariff negotiations and implementation of investment funds.
In this regard, the court's judgment on the provisional disposition of the US smelter project is also being re-examined. At the time, the court evaluated the nature of the transaction, saying, "The transaction in this case seems to have been promoted for the purpose of reorganizing the global supply chain for key minerals in the United States, strengthening cooperation between South Korea and the United States, and securing stable global demand sources for debtors." Regarding this, the market is interpreting that it has been recognized as a meaningful business in terms of global supply chains as well as Korea Zinc's mid- to long-term strategy.
As a result, it is predicted that the Korea Zinc shareholders' meeting will be a place to comprehensively judge the pension fund's responsible investment principle, side effects of speculative private equity funds, and global supply chain strategies beyond simple corporate management disputes.
An official from the business community said, "MBK and Youngpoong are somewhat dominant when looking at the structure of the stake," adding, "As such, the outcome of the Korea Zinc shareholders' meeting is likely to be determined by what standards the National Pension Service exercises its voting rights."
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*This content was translated by AI.
