Aejin Hwang
EXICUREAbout Aejin Hwang
Aejin Hwang (age 43) is an independent Class II director of Exicure (XCUR), appointed September 8, 2025 and nominated for election at the November 6, 2025 annual meeting . She serves as Deputy General Manager at Sixbridge Asset Management (since 2023), previously worked at Starmark Co. Ltd. (Content Planning Manager, 2012–2017), and holds a Bachelor’s degree from Adelphi University and Master’s degrees from Kelaniya University and The New School University, Parsons School of Design . The Board identifies her as independent under Nasdaq rules .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Tenure | Committees/Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starmark Co. Ltd. | Content Planning Manager | Dec 2012 – Dec 2017 | Content planning responsibilities |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Tenure | Committees/Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sixbridge Asset Management | Deputy General Manager | 2023 – Present | Manages asset operations and HR |
Board Governance
- Board structure: Exicure’s Board has five members in three staggered classes; Hwang is Class II (term expiring 2025; nominated through 2028) .
- Independence: Hwang is independent under Nasdaq standards .
- Controlled company: Exicure became a “controlled company” under Nasdaq rules after HiTron’s investment (Dec 2024), exempting it from majority-independent board and fully independent compensation/nominating committee requirements .
- Leadership: No chairperson or lead independent director; the Board will reconsider structure as strategy/funding evolves .
- Meetings and attendance: Board met 2 times in 2024; each current member attended at least 75% of the meetings of the Board/committees for the last fiscal year in which they served; three directors attended the prior year’s annual meeting . Audit Committee met 5x in 2024; Compensation and Nominating committees each met once in 2024 .
| Committee | Role | Chair | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audit Committee | Member | Sangjin Yeo | All members independent; Yeo designated “audit committee financial expert” |
| Compensation Committee | Not a member (currently comprised of Dongho Lee) | N/A | Committee to add independent members later |
| Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee | Not a member (currently comprised of Dongho Lee) | N/A | Committee to add independent members later |
Fixed Compensation
| Component | Amount/Terms |
|---|---|
| Annual board retainer (cash) | $20,000; paid quarterly in arrears |
| Committee membership fees | Not disclosed; no additional fees specified in proxy |
| Committee chair fees | Not disclosed |
| Meeting fees | Not disclosed |
| Equity grants to directors | None granted to current/prior directors in 2024 |
Performance Compensation
| Instrument / Metric | Details |
|---|---|
| Stock awards (RSUs/PSUs) | None disclosed for directors in 2024 |
| Option awards | None issued to directors in 2024 |
| Performance metrics tied to director pay | Not disclosed/applicable for directors |
| Clawback policy specific to directors | Not disclosed in director pay section (company maintains insider trading and anti-hedging/anti-pledging policy) |
Other Directorships & Interlocks
| Company | Role | Public/Private | Overlaps/Interlocks |
|---|---|---|---|
| None disclosed | — | — | No other public company board roles disclosed for Hwang |
Expertise & Qualifications
- Asset management operations and HR leadership at Sixbridge; prior experience in content planning and cross-industry exposure .
- Independent director serving on the Audit Committee; not designated as the “financial expert” (that role is held by Sangjin Yeo) .
- Educational background includes Bachelor’s (Adelphi University) and Master’s degrees (Kelaniya University; The New School University, Parsons) .
Equity Ownership
| Holder | Shares Beneficially Owned | % Outstanding | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aejin Hwang | — (not separately quantified) | <1% | Share count not listed; percent below 1%. 6,317,816 shares outstanding as of Sept 9, 2025 |
| Pledging/Hedging | — | — | Company policy prohibits hedging or borrowing against company stock by directors; no pledging by Hwang disclosed |
Insider Trades
| Date | Form | Transaction | Shares | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | No insider transactions by Ms. Hwang disclosed in this proxy | — | — | No Section 16(a) delinquencies listed for Hwang; she was appointed in Sept 2025 |
Governance Assessment
-
Strengths
- Independent director on the Audit Committee, supporting financial oversight; committee chaired by a designated financial expert (Yeo) .
- Anti-hedging/anti-pledging policy enhances alignment and risk controls for directors and officers .
- Simple, low-cash director pay structure (no equity in 2024), reducing pay complexity and conflict risk .
-
Watch items / RED FLAGS
- Controlled company status and absence of a chair or lead independent director can reduce independent oversight; compensation and nominating committees are currently single-member (Dongho Lee), with plans to add members later .
- Limited board meeting frequency in 2024 (2 meetings) with use of unanimous written consents; while the company cites transitional operations, this cadence warrants monitoring for engagement/oversight depth .
- Beneficial ownership by Hwang is below 1%; while consistent with small-cap norms and policy prohibitions on hedging/pledging, “skin in the game” alignment specific to her stake is minimal based on disclosed data .
-
Related-party and conflict screening
- Significant related-party context at the company level (HiTron financing/designations; Alta consulting agreement tied to former CEO) but no related-party transactions disclosed involving Hwang personally .
- Independence confirmed under Nasdaq standards for Hwang .