South Korea’s top steelmaker Posco in a board meeting on Wednesday accepted the resignation of its chair Kwon Oh-joon who offered to step down without completing his second term that ends in March 2020, citing questionable reasons.

Although Posco recorded best earnings last year as restructuring drive under Kwon paid off, the chief who had earned a second term in March 2017 had been under pressure to walk out as part of the long-standing tradition of Korean politics of replacing the management at public institutions with figures loyal to the new government after a new ruling power is inaugurated.

President Moon Jae-in, who was elected through a snap election in May last year, had been eager to upend the legacies of his impeached predecessor Park Geun-hye.

Kwon, who had been handpicked by Park, would have felt insecure about his job although the steelmaker had been privatized in 2000. There had been talks that he replaced his predecessor Chung Joon-yang, who kowtowed to then-President Lee Myung-bak to earn a second term, at the recommendation of Choi Soon-sil, Park’s secret friend who had wielded influence over her and ended up putting both of them behind bars for power abuse. Kwon was excluded from the list of businessmen accompanying Moon in four overseas visits.

All of Kwon’s seven predecessors stepped down in disgrace for corruption charges before their term ended. Kwon said he was resigning to pave the way for a new future of the company.

No corruption allegations have yet surfaced in the case of Kwon. He has been credited for turning around the troubled steelmaker through massive restructuring and rationalization of nearly 7 trillion won ($6.57 billion) in finances.

The company’s net profit nearly tripled on year to 2.97 trillion won in 2017. Operating profit surged 62.5 percent to 4.62 trillion won, its highest in six years.

Posco shares closed Wednesday up 4.95 percent at 349,500 won.

By Moon Ji-woong and Kim Hyo-jin

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]