Chung Mong-Hun defers decision on HEC

The ailing Hyundai Engineering and Construction (HEC) reappointed its president Kim Yoon-Kyu and auditor Koh Hyun-Jik as members of the board of directors Thursday in a shareholders` meeting at its headquarters building in Kye-dong, central Seoul. Vice president Kim Hong-Do was newly elected a member of the board.

But Chung Mong-Hun, president of Hyundai Asan board of directors and the largest HEC shareholder with 6.38 percent, did not join the board.

Chung, fifth son of the late Hyundai founder Chung Ju-Yung, and president Kim will soon make a final decision on when the company`s creditors must agree to debt-for-equity swaps, Hyundai sources said.

The current three outside directors were retained. They are Profs. Roh Seung-Tak of Seoul National University, Lee Li-Hyung of Hanyang University and Shin Mun-Young of Myongji University. A successor to Prof. Kim Soo-Sam of Chungang University, whose term expired, was not named. As a result, the number of HEC directors fell to six from the previous eight.

Earlier, Chung was expected to return to management of the troubled company through the shareholders` meeting, where it was also forecast that company president Kim would resign over the ongoing liquidity crisis.

Kim said, ``A temporary shareholders` meeting will be convened shortly (on the debt-for-equity swaps), and depending on the situation, I am willing to resign even before that.``

An HEC official said, ``If the debt-for-equity swaps are confirmed, it will be inevitable for us to change chief executive officers (CEOs). So, it seems that they reserved their decisions on the future course.``