![KleanNara Chairman and CEO Choi Hyun-soo [KleanNara]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/11/05/news-p.v1.20261105.91b04e4ceaf04864baa2e26707f93341_P1.jpg)
Former honorary chairman's comeback blocked as shareholder vote yields 45.5% approval
Lee Dong-yeol steps down, ending co-CEO structure after three months
Sharp contrast with 99.8% approval at March AGM signals management shake-up
KleanNara has rejected a proposal to appoint former Honorary Chairman Choi Byung-min as an inside director, consolidating leadership under Chairman and CEO Choi Hyun-soo. The move blocks Choi Byung-min's return to the board after he stepped back from management in March, and comes alongside the resignation of co-CEO Lee Dong-yeol.
According to filings with the Financial Supervisory Service's DART system Thursday, KleanNara disclosed that a special shareholders' meeting held Wednesday voted down the proposal to appoint Choi Byung-min as an inside director. The motion received approval from only 45.5% of shares exercising voting rights, falling short of the required majority. Votes against or abstaining accounted for 54.5%, and approval based on total shares with voting rights stood at 27.6%.
The outcome stands in stark contrast to the company's annual general meeting in March, when proposals to reappoint CEO Lee Dong-yeol and Chief Operating Officer Choi Jeong-gyu as inside directors each passed with 99.8% approval. This time, the proposal for Choi Byung-min failed to secure a majority.
Choi Byung-min is the son of the late Choi Hwa-sik, who founded KleanNara. He took over management after his father's death in 1983 and handed the CEO role to his eldest daughter, Choi Hyun-soo, in 2019. His term as an inside director expired in March this year, at which point he also stepped down as honorary chairman. KleanNara had sought to reinstate him as an inside director in September but failed to clear the shareholder vote.
The company's leadership structure also changed. KleanNara disclosed Wednesday that following Lee Dong-yeol's resignation as co-CEO, it had transitioned from a co-CEO arrangement shared by Lee and Choi Hyun-soo to a sole-CEO structure under Choi Hyun-soo.
The company had shifted to a sole-CEO structure under Lee after Choi Hyun-soo stepped down as CEO in December last year. Choi returned to the CEO role on Aug. 11 this year, forming a co-CEO arrangement with Lee. Lee's resignation roughly three months later has returned the company to a sole-CEO structure.
Choi Hyun-soo joined KleanNara in 2006 and held roles including head of marketing and head of the household products division. She has served as CEO since 2019 and was elevated to chairman in December last year. She also serves as chairperson of the Korea Paper Manufacturers Association.
The leadership overhaul leaves earnings improvement as a pressing challenge. KleanNara posted consolidated sales of 508.2 billion won ($379 million), an operating loss of 22.6 billion won and a net loss of 47.5 billion won last year, marking three consecutive years of operating losses since 2023.
Sales in the first half of this year rose 2.8% year on year to 261.36 billion won. The operating loss narrowed to 3.35 billion won from 10.05 billion won in the same period last year, a reduction of 6.7 billion won. The company swung to a quarterly operating profit of 620 million won in the second quarter but remained in the red on a cumulative first-half basis.
Financial pressure continues to mount. The consolidated debt-to-equity ratio stood at 295.6% at the end of the first half of this year, up 22.2 percentage points from 273.4% at the end of last year. Korea Ratings downgraded KleanNara's unsecured bond and corporate credit rating from BBB to BBB- in June.
hong@heraldcorp.com
