Kangwon Land ends two-year leadership vacuum with appointment of ex-military commander Kim Do-kyun

Kangwon Land held its 34th extraordinary shareholders meeting at the High1 Palace Hotel on Wednesday and approved the appointment of Kim Do-kyun, former commander of the Army's Capital Defense Command, as its new chief executive.

The casino and resort operator had run under an acting leadership arrangement for more than two years after former president Lee Sam-geol stepped down in December 2023 without a successor being named. Kim's appointment is expected to end that vacancy.

A native of Sokcho and a graduate of the Korea Military Academy's 44th class, Kim served as director of the Defense Ministry's North Korea policy division, presidential secretary for defense reform at the National Security Office, head of the Defense Ministry's North Korea policy bureau, and commander of the Army's Capital Defense Command. He joined the Democratic Party of Korea in June 2023 and went on to serve as the party's central committee spokesperson for defense affairs, spokesperson for security affairs, and chairman of the Gangwon Province chapter.

The Kangwon Land president is formally appointed by the president of South Korea on the recommendation of the minister of trade, industry and energy, the supervising ministry. The term runs three years from the date of appointment.

The meeting also approved the appointment of other executives and an auditor. Yu Jeong-bae, former president of Korea Coal Corp., was named standing director and vice president, while Jang Gyeong-yeol, former head of the National Intelligence Service's Gangwon branch, was appointed standing audit committee member. The standing vice president is ultimately appointed by the head of the institution after going through the shareholders meeting process, with a two-year term. The standing audit committee member is appointed by the president on the recommendation of the minister of economy and finance, also for a two-year term.

Shareholders also approved partial amendments to the company's articles of incorporation to reflect revisions to the Commercial Act and strengthen shareholder rights protection.

The key amendments cover: the introduction of electronic shareholders meetings and the resulting changes to how such meetings may be held; a change to the number of audit committee members elected through a separate vote; a change to how voting rights are exercised when appointing or dismissing audit committee members; and the explicit statement of grounds for holding and disposing of treasury shares under the applicable regulation.

Through these changes, Kangwon Land plans to broaden shareholder participation by introducing the electronic shareholders meeting system, while improving corporate governance transparency by revising rules on audit committee appointments and treasury share management.