포스코홀딩스 (사진=연합뉴스)

[Alpha Biz=(Chicago) Reporter Paul Lee] The National Tax Service has launched a tax probe into POSCO Group. Although it is a regular tax investigation conducted every four to five years, it is interpreted that it is actually aimed at Chairman Choi Jung-woo.

According to the business community on the 17th, the National Tax Service launched a tax probe into POSCO from the previous day. The investigation period is expected to take about three months.

KT CEO Koo Hyun-mo, who is seeking a second term, recently resigned from his next candidate. The business community's view is that the next target will be Chairman Choi Jung-woo.

The fact that the tax investigation began a day before POSCO Holdings' shareholders' meeting also adds weight to the interpretation that it is aimed at pressuring Chairman Choi's future. There is a precedent in which former POSCO chairmen have stepped down before and after the tax probe.

Choi's predecessor, Kwon Oh-joon, voluntarily resigned three months ahead of a tax probe by the National Tax Service with two years left before the expiration of his term in 2018, while former chairman Chung Joon-yang also resigned during a tax probe by the National Tax Service in 2013.

 

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