[Asia Exclusive] Behind the CEO Is a Person... A Romantic CEO Who Loves Singing

A Typical CEO
Reveals Hobby as 'Music'
A Place for Employee Harmony
From 'Oreumakgil' to 'Yeontan Han Jang'

[Asia Economy Reporter Minyoung Cha] The past five years since its launch have been a continuous challenge for One Store, which has established itself as a domestic leading app market and an alternative to the global app market giants. It has been no easy journey for CEO Jaehwan Lee, who has been in charge of the media and content divisions at SK Telecom and SK Planet.

According to employees, CEO Lee is a "typical CEO." With a cool-headed demeanor, he consistently delivers messages about One Store's direction and the mobile platform ecosystem. Recently, he has also been contemplating new organizational management strategies aligned with the "With Corona" era.

On the other hand, the "human Jaehwan Lee" shows a slightly different side. He enjoys listening to and singing music as a hobby. Before the spread of COVID-19, at year-end company events, he sometimes conveyed messages to employees through song.

In the most difficult year after the company's launch, 2018, he sang "Uphill Road" from the monthly album by Yoon Jong-shin. The management environment continued to deteriorate until the bold decision to reduce commission fees by 10% was made. CEO Lee said, "I sang 'Uphill Road' to steel my resolve," adding, "The song's hopeful message was that the summit is narrow but eventually, one will reach the top. Some employees were surprised just by hearing the lyrics," he laughed.

Another favorite song is An Chi-hwan's "A Briquette." His favorite line is, "On a morning when the world is slippery with snow, I want to create a path where others can walk safely, not me." CEO Lee explained, "A briquette burns itself to warm others and sacrifices itself for others. I hope One Store, as an app market platform, becomes such an entity that prevents people from slipping when it snows."

One Store's slogan in 2018 was "Breakthrough." In 2019, it was "Leap," and in 2020, "Takeoff." CEO Lee emphasized, "Having overcome crises and leaped forward, now it's time to soar."

◆ CEO Jaehwan Lee's Career

Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Business Administration from Hanyang University

MBA from Michigan State University

2005?2008 SVP of Product and Service at Helio

2009 Head of M&F (Media and Future) Strategic Marketing Team at SK Telecom

2011 Head of New Media Strategy Office at SK Telecom

2012 Head of Business Development at SK Planet

2014?2016 Head of Digital Content Business Division at SK Planet

2015?2017 CEO of Entrix (concurrently)

2016?Present CEO of One Store