South Korea’s telecom giant KT Corp. said Thursday it will restart the appointment process for its new CEO, accepting applications from potential candidates until Feb. 20.

Earlier in December, the company’s CEO candidate review committee appointed the incumbent CEO, Ku Hyeon-mo, as the final candidate to take the helm. But the decision faced opposition from the state-run pension fund and the company’s largest shareholder National Pension Service.

Even though Ku seeking his second term was approved by the company’s board of directors, the company said the board has decided to hold an open competition again to enhance the transparency of the recruiting process.

The company added it will set up a separate advisory group to oversee the process, comprising outside experts across industries.

“So far, we’ve handled the recruiting process fairly. With the latest board decision, we will further strengthen transparency, fairness and objectivity of the process overall,” the CEO candidate review committee said.

The company’s board of directors plans to complete the candidate appointment procedure before a general shareholders meeting next month.