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| Choi Jeong-woo, chairman of POSCO Group, speaks during POSCO Holdings' shareholders' meeting in Seoul, Friday. Courtesy of POSCO Holdings |
By Baek Byung-yeul
POSCO Holdings will relocate its headquarters from Seoul to Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province. Shareholders of the steel and battery material maker approved the move on Friday.
POSCO Group was largely criticized by Pohang residents for its decision to set up its headquarters in Seoul in January 2022 when it established POSCO Holdings. Pohang is the birthplace of POSCO, where its first steel mill was built in 1971.
Pohang residents, politicians and civic groups raised issue with decision stating that the southeastern port city would lose competitiveness if the holding company maintained its headquarters in Seoul.
Amid the objections, the company promised in February 2022 that it would relocate its headquarters to Pohang and last month, board members proposed the relocation agenda for Friday's shareholders' meeting.
The Pohang City Government expressed support for the group's recent decision saying that it "welcomes the relocation of POSCO Holdings which was finally passed at the shareholders' meeting."
Lee Kang-deok, mayor of Pohang also said, "This is meaningful as the country, local community and company can grow together."
"We should actively participate in fostering professionals so that companies can secure talented workers in the regions," the mayor added.
During the shareholders' meeting, Choi Jeong-woo, chairman of the group, pledged that the group would continue to pursue sustainable growth by intensifying eco-friendly businesses.
"Last year, we had to stop operations for the first time in 50 years due to Typhoon Hinnamnor, but we created a miracle as we could return to normal operation in only 135 days," Choi said. "Even under difficult conditions, we have also topped the world's most competitive steel company for 13 consecutive years as ranked by World Steel Dynamics."
"The steel business will pursue the development of a smart steel mill system with the industry's best cost competitiveness and establish low-carbon and eco-friendly production and sales systems as early as possible. For the secondary battery business, which is our future growth engine, we will promote full-scale production of lithium and nickel and continue to secure new resources and eco-friendly materials without a hitch," the chairman added.
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| Members of the Korean Metal Workers' Union stage a rally at the POSCO Center in Seoul, the location where the POSCO Holdings' shareholders' meeting was held, Friday. Yonhap |
The shareholders' meeting also faced an unexpected turnout of workers from POSCO's subcontractors, who are also members of the Korean Metal Workers' Union's POSCO branch. The workers blocked all entrances to the POSCO Center in Seoul where the meeting was held, preventing not only shareholders but also employees from entering the building. They staged a rally asking the company to implement a period-based wage increase system, change its name and change the status of non-regular workers to regular workers.
