[News Figures] LG Saenggeon’s First Female President Lee Jeong-ae, Key Player in Luxury Cosmetics Advancement

Lee Jeong-ae, the newly appointed president who has led LG Household & Health Care's (LG H&H) beverage business, has earned the honor of becoming LG Group's 'first female CEO.' Rising from a new employee recruited through open recruitment to an executive position, Lee is the key figure who has driven LG H&H to become the number one player in the domestic household goods market.

On the 24th, LG H&H held a board meeting and announced that Lee, who was serving as the head of the beverage division (vice president), has been promoted to president and appointed as CEO. With this, LG H&H became the first affiliate within LG Group to produce a female CEO.

Born in 1963, Lee majored in economics at Ewha Womans University and took her first step into the corporate world by passing LG H&H's open recruitment for new employees in 1986. She has led the marketing of LG H&H's core products, holding positions such as head of the household goods division in 2011, head of the luxury cosmetics division in 2015, and head of the refreshment (beverage) division in 2018.

In particular, Lee is known as the leading contributor to the premiumization of LG H&H's cosmetics products. Since the 2010s, LG H&H has pursued a brand premiumization strategy to counter the low-priced cosmetics offensive from competitors. After taking charge of the cosmetics division in 2015, Lee launched a series of top-tier cosmetics brands such as 'Whoo,' 'Su:m37,' and 'O Hui.'

LG Household & Health Care's flagship luxury cosmetics brand 'Whoo' / Photo by LG Household & Health Care

Among these, 'Whoo' is a royal luxury cosmetics brand concept that delivers a unique marketing message conveying the differentiated sentiment of 'court culture enjoyed by queens,' which garnered enthusiastic responses from consumers. In 2016, it recorded annual sales of 1 trillion KRW as the first single brand to do so, and just two years later, in 2018, it surpassed 2 trillion KRW in annual sales, becoming the first single brand in the domestic cosmetics industry to achieve this milestone.

Armed with the sentiment of court culture, Whoo received great acclaim not only in Korea but also in the Chinese market. Riding on this success, last year it achieved sales of 2.6 trillion KRW. In that year, LG H&H surpassed Amorepacific Group, the leading domestic cosmetics company, to become number one in the cosmetics industry for the first time.

Having distinguished herself in the cosmetics business, Lee took charge of the beverage business from 2019, leading the growth of major brands such as 'Coca-Cola,' 'Monster Energy,' and 'Seagram's.' Despite the challenging domestic market conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, she responded swiftly by collaborating with online food delivery services to increase the exposure of beverage brands.