Lotte, CEO Generation Change with 14 New Leaders... 'Future Business' in Shin Yu-yeol's Hands (Comprehensive)

Lee Hoon-ki Appointed General Representative of Chemical Group
Lee Young-gu Promoted to Vice Chairman, General Representative of Food Group
Shin Dong-bin's Eldest Son Shin Yoo-yeol, Head of Holding Company Future Growth Office

Lotte has carried out an executive reshuffle, including the replacement of 14 CEOs. The focus was placed on advancing young leadership, reallocating key talents to enhance the core business portfolio, expanding the recruitment of external experts, and strengthening global capabilities and female leadership. As a result, while the overall size of the executive team did not change significantly, major executives were largely replaced compared to last year. Shin Yu-yeol, Executive Director and eldest son of Chairman Shin Dong-bin, was promoted to Managing Director and will oversee new businesses for Lotte Group's future growth, thereby expanding his role within the group.

On the 6th, Lotte held board meetings for 38 affiliates including Lotte Holdings and announced the regular executive appointments for 2024. The reshuffle was prepared to secure future competitiveness and strengthen sustainable growth strategies amid increasing uncertainties in the internal and external business environment.

Lee Hoon-ki, General Representative (President) of Lotte Chemical Group
[Photo by Lotte Holdings].

Kim Kyo-hyun, Vice Chairman and General Head of Lotte Group’s Chemical Division who led the chemical business for five years, has retired, and Lee Hoon-ki, President and Head of ESG Management Innovation Office at Lotte Holdings, has been appointed as his successor. Born in 1967, Lee joined the group’s Planning and Coordination Office in 1990, served as Head of Planning at Lotte Chemical in 2010, and was CEO of Lotte Rental in 2019. Since 2020, he has led the ESG Management Innovation Office at Lotte Holdings, overseeing mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and discovering future new businesses. Lee is recognized as a strategy, planning, and new business expert who will strengthen the market competitiveness of chemical affiliates and promote global business diversification by enhancing existing business capabilities and completing the business portfolio.

Kim Kyo-hyun, who retired from the frontline for the group’s new leap and transformation, led the acquisition and growth of LC Titan, Lotte Chemical’s petrochemical subsidiary in Malaysia. He also spearheaded the establishment of an ethane cracker plant in Louisiana, USA, and the 'Line Project' to develop a large-scale petrochemical complex in Indonesia, driving the growth of Lotte’s chemical business.

Lee Young-gu, Chief Executive Officer of Lotte Food Group (Vice Chairman) Photo by Lotte Holdings.

Lee Young-gu, President and General Head of the Food Division, has been promoted to Vice Chairman. He was recognized for his achievements in leading the merger of Lotte Confectionery and Lotte Foods, improving the food division’s portfolio, expanding global business, and securing new growth engines through future food discovery, thereby creating a stable profitable structure.

Through this executive reshuffle, Lotte is accelerating generational change among affiliate CEOs. Eight CEOs in their 60s have stepped down, and a total of 14 affiliate CEOs, including them, have been replaced. By appointing Woo Woong-jo, Executive Director (promoted), as CEO of Lotte Healthcare, the number of CEOs in their 40s has increased to three, including Lee Won-jik, CEO of Lotte Biologics, and Jung Hyun-seok, CEO of FRL Korea.

Three executives were promoted to President: Ko Soo-chan, Vice President and Head of Management Improvement Office at Lotte Holdings; Ko Jung-wook, Vice President and Head of Financial Innovation Office at Lotte Holdings; and Jung Jun-ho, Vice President of Lotte Department Store. This is the largest number of president promotions in the past three years. The average age of presidents has become five years younger compared to last year.

President Ko Soo-chan has led management diagnosis and business system improvements across all Lotte Group affiliates as Head of the Management Improvement Office at Lotte Holdings. President Ko Jung-wook was recognized for forming the 'Financial Strategy Task Force' last year to improve financial indicators of affiliates and for early resolution of liquidity crises caused by contingent liabilities (PF) at Lotte Construction. President Jung Jun-ho, an externally recruited fashion MD expert, led performance improvements through Lotte Department Store’s unique premium strategy despite deteriorating consumer sentiment due to the economic downturn.

Lotte recruited external experts with global competitiveness in various business fields to strengthen existing business competitiveness and expand overseas operations. Jang Jae-hoon, CEO of JLL (Jones Lang LaSalle) Korea, was appointed CEO of Lotte Property & Development; Park Ik-jin, Head of Global Operations Group at Affinity Equity Partners, was appointed CEO of Lotte e-commerce; and Kim So-yeon, CEO of HL REITs Management, was appointed CEO of Lotte AMC. Lotte is also in the process of appointing a logistics expert from outside as CEO of Lotte Global Logistics.

Jang Jae-hoon, appointed as the new CEO of Lotte Property & Development, is currently CEO of JLL Korea, a global comprehensive real estate asset management company, and has 23 years of extensive experience in real estate asset management. Lotte expects Jang to transform Lotte Property & Development into a global comprehensive real estate company based on his expertise.

Park Ik-jin has diverse consulting experience in commerce platform company management, marketing, product, and new business. He is expected to significantly contribute to the turnaround of Lotte e-commerce and synergy creation with the Ocado system. Kim So-yeon is the first female CEO in Korea in real estate asset management. She has worked for over 30 years in real estate development, consulting, and asset management. Based on her expertise, she plans to activate not only the securitization of real estate assets held by existing Lotte affiliates but also new real estate investments.

In September, Lotte recruited Shin Min-wook, Executive Director, as CEO of Lotte GFR, and in October, Lee Don-tae, President, as Head of Design Strategy Center at Lotte Holdings, bringing the total number of externally recruited CEO-level executives this year to six.

No Jun-hyeong, Head of ESG Management Innovation Office at Lotte Holdings
Photo by Lotte Holdings.

Lotte plans to strategically reassign internally verified experts within the group to strengthen existing business competitiveness and accelerate new business initiatives.

No Jun-hyung, who led new business and IT/DT projects at Lotte Information & Communication, has been appointed as the new Head of ESG Management Innovation Office at Lotte Holdings. During his tenure as CEO of Lotte Information & Communication, No expanded business into various fields such as metaverse, electric vehicle charging, urban air mobility (UAM), autonomous driving, and non-fungible tokens (NFT). Having led Lotte Group’s business transformation, he is expected to strategically complete the group’s portfolio. This reflects Lotte’s strong commitment to accelerating future growth centered on IT/DT strategies in a market environment where digital capabilities have become core corporate competitiveness.

Shin Yu-yeol, Executive Director of Future Growth Office at Lotte Holdings [Photo by Lotte Holdings].

Lotte Holdings has established a Future Growth Office dedicated to global and new businesses to manage new businesses such as bio and healthcare and to discover a second growth engine. The new head of the Future Growth Office will be Shin Yu-yeol, Managing Director of Lotte Chemical Basic Materials (promoted). Based on his diverse global investment experience, Shin will undertake the important role of discovering new growth engines and expanding future new businesses aligned with the group’s mid-to-long-term vision. He will also concurrently serve as Head of Global Strategy at Lotte Biologics. By directly participating in the management of the bio business, a core of Lotte Group’s future growth, he plans to successfully lead its growth into a global CDMO company. Shin has enhanced his financial expertise by serving as CEO of investment affiliates such as Lotte Strategic Investment (LSI) and Lotte Financial in 2022. He contributed to discovering new business opportunities at Lotte Chemical’s Tokyo office.

Considering global business expansion, Lotte recruited CEOs with domestic and international business experience and global competitiveness. Newly appointed CEO of Lotte Property & Development, Jang Jae-hoon, has broad global experience from 23 years in the domestic and international real estate industry. CEO of Lotte e-commerce, Park Ik-jin, built his expertise mainly at global companies such as McKinsey & Company, ING Life, and Affinity Equity Partners. The CEO candidate for Lotte Global Logistics currently being recruited is also a logistics expert with global competitiveness.

Kim So-yeon, CEO (Executive Director) of Lotte AMC [Photo by Lotte Holdings].

Lotte strengthened female leadership by newly appointing Kim So-yeon as CEO of Lotte AMC. As a result, the number of female CEOs totals three, including Shin Min-wook, Executive Director of Lotte GFR, and Kim Hye-joo, Executive Director of Lotte Members. This is the largest scale since the first female CEO was appointed in 2018.

The number of female executives is also increasing. The proportion of female senior executives at the level of Executive Director or higher rose from 7.4% last year to 9.8% this year. Five female executives (Assistant General Managers) were promoted to Executive Directors and placed at the forefront of the organization. The new female executives include Kim Ji-soo, Assistant General Manager at the Department Store division; Jo Yoon-joo, Assistant General Manager at Home Shopping; Kim Hyun-ryeong, Assistant General Manager at Hotels; and Oh Hye-young, Assistant General Manager at Information & Communication. The number of female executives increased by seven, from 47 (7%) last year to 54 (8%) this year.