KT outside director Yoon Jong-soo (윤종수), who chairs the company’s ESG committee, has decided not to seek another term. Yoon is an environmental adviser at Kim & Chang.

Industry sources said on Sunday that Yoon recently told the board he would decline reappointment. Yoon had been set to be included in the agenda for the March 31 shareholders meeting to appoint CEO candidate Park Yoon-young and outside directors, along with Kim Young-han, a professor in the School of Electronic Engineering at Soongsil University, Kwon Myung-sook, head of Intel Korea, and Seo Jin-seok, former head of EY Hanyoung.

Yoon was the only one of the 4 successor candidates for outside directors whose terms expire who was being pushed for another term, among those announced on Feb. 9. Some in the industry interpret the move as Yoon stepping down on his own as a new management system is launched and the board’s composition changes.

KT’s board has faced persistent controversy over governance. Earlier this month, KT's New Union criticised Yoon’s reappointment, saying, "Last year, the board was criticised for a 'self-reappointment' practice that extended the terms of all 4 outside directors whose mandates expired through a formal public recruitment process," adding, "This year, it is trying to reappoint the same person in the same way."

With Yoon declining another term, KT will need to begin procedures to appoint a new outside director to oversee ESG. If it fails to finalise a successor before the shareholders meeting, the new board may be launched with the post left vacant.