The National Pension Service building stands in Dongdaemun District, eastern Seoul, on Sept. 10. The pension fund exercised its voting rights 3,508 times from January through July, the most in five years.NEWS1
The National Pension Service (NPS), the largest institutional investor in the local stock market, exercised its voting rights 3,508 times from January through July, the most in five years.
The pension fund holds sizable stakes in many of the country's biggest companies. Some say clear standards are needed to keep it from wielding excessive influence over how they are run.
The NPS's vote count had been falling since 2022 before turning upward this year, according to data the NPS submitted to Rep. Cho Bae-sook of the People Power Party. The seven-month tally already exceeds last year's full-year total of 3,122.
In March, the NPS Investment Management, the pension fund's investment arm, pledged to exercise its voting rights actively to raise shareholder value and fund returns. It said the approach reflects the purpose of the revised Commercial Act.
The fund is also voting “no” more often. Of the 3,508 votes cast this year, 1,113, or 31.7 percent, were against, up 8.3 percentage points from 23.4 percent in 2022.
At this year's regular shareholder meetings, the NPS voted against a string of major items, including director appointments and changes to articles of incorporation. In March, it opposed the appointment of HS Hyosung Vice Chairman Cho Hyun-sang as a director of HS Hyosung Advanced Materials. The fund cited his excessive number of concurrent posts and damage to corporate value.
HS Hyosung Vice Chairman Cho Hyun-sang poses with guests and employees at HS Hyosung Night, a dinner for global partners held during the Techtextil 2026 trade fair in Frankfurt, Germany, on April 22. The National Pension Service voted against his appointment as a director of HS Hyosung Advanced Materials in March.HS HYOSUNG
The NPS had 418.6 trillion won ($311.6 billion) invested in local stocks as of July and holds stakes of 5 percent or more in 281 listed companies.
Its five largest holdings by value at the end of last year were Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, LG Energy Solution, Samsung Biologics and Hyundai Motor. Together they were worth 108.8 trillion won, the NPS's list of domestic stock holdings shows.
The fund's largest stake among them was in SK hynix, at 7.9 percent. Samsung Electronics followed at 7.76 percent, then Hyundai Motor at 7.75 percent, Samsung Biologics at 7.35 percent and LG Energy Solution at 6.7 percent. The NPS is the second-largest shareholder in four of them: Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, LG Energy Solution and Hyundai Motor.
Samsung Electronics' headquarters in Suwon, GyeonggiYONHAP
Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, two of the most valuable companies on the local market, account for 21.06 percent and 14.31 percent of the NPS's domestic stock assets, respectively.
In May, the NPS raised its target allocation for domestic stocks this year to 20.8 percent from 14.9 percent. Some observers say its large stakes in major companies and more active voting could give the fund greater sway over those companies' decisions.
“The NPS, which holds the public's retirement savings, must not be used as a tool for exerting excessive influence over corporate management,” Rep. Cho said.
“The NPS needs to set more transparent and consistent principles for exercising shareholder rights, so that the public can accept the standards and grounds on which it votes at companies.”
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
