이 기사는 2021년 11월 02일 08시04분 thebell에 표출된 기사입니다

South Korea’s Namyang Dairy Products has appointed its chief general manager Kim Seung-un as the management manager to fill the management gap by shifting into the emergency mode after it has failed to name new inside directors.

Namyang Dairy initially planned to appoint four new board members and new chief executive officer at an extraordinary general meeting on October 29. However, it failed to do so after the Seoul Central District Court's recent decision to accept an injunction filed by private equity firm Hahn & Co to disallow chairman Hong Won-sik and his family’s voting rights.

As a result, the company couldn’t appoint chief general manager Kim Seung-un, Sejong plant manager Jeong jae-yeon, and Naju plant manager Lee Chang-won as new inside directors. The company planned to replace chairman Hong's mother, Ji Song-juk, and his eldest son Jin-seok – who were set to step down from their roles – with new management.

Current CEO and inside director Lee Kwang-beom was also supposed to step down once his replacement is chosen. After the plan failed, Namyang Dairy has decided to appoint Kim as management manager in a situation where only chairman Hong and one outside director will remain on the board except for those who are expected to leave the company.

The company seems to aim to fill a vacancy in its top ranks by entrusting the role of CEO to Kim, although the positions of CEO and inside director will not be granted.

Namyang Dairy said that its appointment of Kim as management manager was based on Article 11 of the Commercial Act, which allows a manager appointed by a company to perform all judicial and extrajudicial acts with respect to the company on behalf of the business owner.

"It is very unfortunate that the normalization of Namyang Dairy has been disrupted despite the company's attempt to refresh its management by appointing new directors in a situation where CEO Lee wants to resign,” a major shareholder in the company said.

“Given that there is no director to be elected as the CEO, it is inevitable to put the company under Kim’s management, and as one of the major shareholders, we will do our best to find a buyer who will further develop Namyang Dairy.” (Reporting by Seon-ho Kim)