"Thorough Merit-Based Personnel... Early October Personnel Changes to Revitalize Atmosphere"
[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Shinsegae Group has appointed former Shinsegae DF CEO Son Young-sik as the new head of its department store division and carried out a large-scale reshuffle of subsidiary CEOs. The Emart division, which has grown significantly through major mergers and acquisitions (M&A) this year, is actively recruiting external talent to drive organizational innovation.
Replacement of Heads in Five Department Store Divisions
On the 1st, Shinsegae Group announced its regular executive appointments for 2022, naming former CEO Son as the new CEO of Shinsegae. Son is an MD expert who previously served as head of the merchandise division and fashion division at the department store before moving to the duty-free business. He is recognized for his specialized capabilities in the luxury goods sector, having led the overseas luxury team at the department store. He successfully established Shinsegae DF’s duty-free stores at Incheon International Airport, Gangnam, and Myeongdong. He stepped down last year taking responsibility for the performance decline caused by COVID-19 but has now made a spectacular comeback.
The former Shinsegae CEO Cha Jeong-ho has moved to the department store division. At Shinsegae International, CEO Lee Gil-han, who led the cosmetics division, has been appointed as the overall CEO overseeing both cosmetics and fashion divisions. Shinsegae Casa’s new CEO is Choi Moon-seok, CEO of the lodging and leisure startup Yogi-otdae. Choi is an e-commerce expert who previously served as vice president of eBay Korea and CEO of Summers Platform.
Shinsegae Group explained, "This personnel reshuffle was conducted with a focus on preparing for the future, strengthening core competencies, and nurturing talent, based strictly on meritocracy and ability." In particular, they recruited external experts from various fields to prepare for the online era across all business sectors and to strengthen the discovery of new future businesses, while also selecting talented internal personnel and placing them appropriately to firmly establish a talent foundation for the future.
Early Start on Next Year’s Strategic Preparation
Emart, which hired external executive Kang Hee-seok for the first time since its founding in 2019, also underwent a major organizational restructuring. They actively recruited outstanding external talent from various fields.
Emart has successfully completed major M&As this year, including a professional baseball team, eBay Korea, and Starbucks, and is now believed to be gearing up for a full-scale reorganization ahead of the sale of its headquarters building and the SSG.com initial public offering (IPO) planned for next year.
A Shinsegae Group official said, "This year, to revitalize the organizational atmosphere that could easily become lax due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, we advanced the personnel appointments to early October, earlier than usual," adding, "To prepare more solidly for 2022 in response to the rapidly changing market environment, we also started next year’s strategic preparations early."
Meanwhile, Shinsegae’s Im Hoon and Shinsegae Construction’s Jeong Doo-young were promoted to vice presidents, and Shinsegae’s Kim Nak-hyun, Jo In-young, Shinsegae DF’s Yang Ho-jin, and Shinsegae Central City’s Lee Jung-chul were promoted to senior managing directors. In the Emart division, Emart’s Choi Taek-won, Shinsegae Construction’s Min Il-man, Chosun Hotel & Resort’s Jo Hyung-hak, Shinsegae Property’s Jeon Sang-jin and Lee Hyung-cheon, and Strategy Office’s Woo Jung-seop and Kim Sun-ho were each promoted to senior managing directors. Executive Director Kwak Jung-woo, who moved to SSG.com’s operations headquarters last year, has returned as head of Emart’s merchandise division.
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