Korean Corporate Governance Forum Urges Hyundai Motor to Sell KT, Posco Holdings; Liquidate GBC Property

According to Korean Corporate Governance Forum, the body urged Hyundai Motor's board today (July 21) to execute five shareholder value-enhancement measures, including liquidating its Global Business Center (GBC) property stake, disposing of cross-shareholdings in KT (worth 700 billion won) and Posco (worth 1 trillion won), and increasing buybacks of undervalued preferred shares.

The forum criticized Hyundai's 2024 preference share buyback as "discriminatory," noting that from January to April 2026, the automaker repurchased common shares worth 366.8 billion won versus only 32.1 billion won in preferred shares. The forum noted preferred shares trade at 47% of common share prices, adding that equal-value preferred share repurchases would yield over twice the shareholder returns.