Share of Female Executives in 30 Major Groups at 6.9%... More Than Doubled in 5 Years

Unregistered Executives Greatly Increase While Inside Directors Remain Stagnant

The proportion of female executives in the top 30 conglomerates more than doubled over the past five years. This was largely influenced by the revision of the Capital Markets Act in August last year, which prohibited boards of directors from being composed of only one gender. Kakao has the highest proportion of female executives among the top 30 groups, at 19%.

On the 19th, Leaders Index, a corporate analysis research institute, analyzed the status of female executives in 265 companies that submitted business reports out of 1,676 affiliates of the top 30 groups by assets. As of the end of the first quarter this year, there were 726 female executives, accounting for 6.9% of all executives. In the same survey in the first quarter of 2018, the proportion of female executives was 3.2%. This means it has doubled in five years.

Most of the top 30 groups had female executives. In 2018, there were eight groups with no female executives at all, including NongHyup, S-Oil, Harim, LS, HDC, Joongheung Construction, Young Poong, and HMM. However, this year, except for HMM, all 29 other groups had at least one female executive.

The revision of the Capital Markets Act in August last year, which prevented boards from being monopolized by a specific gender, significantly increased the number of female outside directors. The proportion of female outside directors in affiliates of the top 30 groups rose from 2.3% in 2018 to 18.1% this year. The proportion of female non-registered executives in the top 30 groups also nearly doubled, from 3.4% in 2018 to 6.2% this year. However, the increase in female inside directors has not accelerated. The number of female inside directors in affiliates of the top 30 groups this year was 25, up from 12 five years ago, but the proportion only increased by 1.1 percentage points, from 1.7% to 2.8%.

The group with the highest proportion of female executives is Kakao Group. Among 84 executives in six affiliates, 16 are women, accounting for 19.0%. Kakao Group has two female inside directors, including Jeong Sin-a, CEO of Kakao Ventures, and Lee Ok-seon, CFO (Chief Financial Officer) of Neptune, resulting in a high proportion of female inside directors at 9.5%. Next in line for the highest proportion of female executives are Naver (18.8%), CJ (15%), Shinsegae (13.7%), and NongHyup (9.2%).

The group with the largest number of female executives is Samsung. Among 2,097 executives in 22 affiliates, 157 are women, accounting for 7.5%. Next are SK (88), LG (78), Hyundai Motor Company (69), and Lotte (53) in terms of the number of female executives. Meanwhile, the proportion of female executives in Hyundai Department Store and KT has decreased by 0.3 percentage points and 0.8 percentage points, respectively, over the past five years.