POSCO has deferred the appointment of its next chairman and chief executive to next year.

On Friday, the steelmaker did not discuss forming a CEO nomination committee at its regular board meeting.

POSCO reportedly decided that it would not rush into the decision on its new CEO because its outgoing CEO Chung Joon-yang will remain in office until March next year.

Further discussion on the nomination committee is likely to occur at a January board meeting, those close to POSCO said.

Until then, the company will continue to operate a separate council to select the best candidates.

Once the nomination committee is formed, the candidates selected by the council will be forwarded to the committee for further assessment.

The nomination committee is to consist solely of outside directors, including three members of the council, along with others including a former LG CNS CEO and James Bemowski, vice chairman of Doosan.

Following Chung’s decision to step down last month, Kim Won-gil, former lawmaker and Health Minister, has been cited as a shoo-in as the next CEO.

By Kim Ji-hyun (jemmie@heraldcorp.com)