Chairman Koo Ja-hak Steps Down from Ourhome... Withdraws from Frontline Management

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] It has been confirmed that Koo Ja-hak, chairman of food company Ourhome, has stepped down from the front lines of management after 21 years.

According to the distribution industry on the 11th, Chairman Koo was not reappointed as an inside director at the board meeting held on the 4th. Accordingly, Chairman Koo retired from his position as co-CEO and also withdrew from the front lines of management.

Chairman Koo has stepped away from management after 21 years since Ourhome became independent from LG Group in 2000. Koo is the third son of Koo In-hoe, the founder of LG Group, and is 92 years old this year. It is reported that the elderly Chairman Koo has practically not participated in management until now.

At the board meeting at that time, Koo’s eldest son, Vice Chairman and CEO Koo Bon-sung, was dismissed from the CEO position. Koo’s youngest daughter, former Calisco CEO Koo Ji-eun, allied with her two older sisters to remove her brother and took the position of CEO of Ourhome. With the dismissal of CEO Yoo Deok-sang, the management shifted to a sole CEO system under Koo Ji-eun. Koo’s second daughter, Calisco CEO Koo Myung-jin, was named as an inside director of Ourhome for the first time.

The largest shareholder of Ourhome is Vice Chairman Koo Bon-sung, holding 38.6% of the shares. However, when the shares of the three sisters Koo Mi-hyun (19.3%), Myung-jin (19.6%), and Ji-eun (20.7%) are combined, they total 59.6%, which is more than his stake.

Meanwhile, Vice Chairman Koo was sentenced to six months in prison with a two-year probation on the 3rd in the first trial for damaging another vehicle through retaliatory driving and hitting the driver. Neither the prosecution nor Vice Chairman Koo appealed, so the first trial sentence was finalized.