[Digital Today reporter Lee Ho-jung] The Naver branch of the KCTU Chemical, Textile and Food Workers’ Union, Naver’s labour union, filed an injunction at Suwon District Court on Sunday against Naver seeking access to and copies of board meeting minutes and the shareholder register.

The filing follows up after management gave no response to demands the union formally submitted to the board in December last year. The union stressed the action was not an attempt to intervene in management control, but a legitimate exercise of shareholder rights to check whether a decision to allow the return of a person responsible in a workplace bullying case followed legal procedures.

The union plans to review the process behind the decision to reinstate former Chief Operating Officer Choi In-hyuk (최인혁) as a director by inspecting board minutes. It raised suspicions that, before the decision, the company held an informal briefing for a small group of executives or mobilised an internal audit organisation to prepare explanatory materials. It also said the then chair pushed through the appointment despite objections from some directors, and voiced concern about potential damage to the board’s independence and transparency.

The request to inspect the shareholder register is intended to lay the groundwork for determining substantive responsibility. The union said it is also considering ways to join forces with like-minded shareholders, after securing the register, to jointly exercise shareholder rights. If access to the register is blocked, the functions of checks and balances themselves could be neutralised, the union said.

A union official said checking whether the decision to reappoint, as an executive, the person responsible in an incident in which a colleague lost their life due to workplace bullying underwent sufficient review was a basic shareholder oversight right. Transparent answers and procedural improvements are essential to restoring trust in the company and raising corporate value, the official said.

The union has continued to raise the issue through a vote by all union members and rallies opposing the move since former COO Choi returned as head of the Tech Business unit in May 2025.