CJ Appoints Heo Min-hoe as Head of Management Support... Third Female Subsidiary CEO in History

'Problem Solver' CEO Heo Returns to Holding Company... Oversees External Affairs
Lee Sun-young Promoted to Head of CJ ENM Commerce Division
Jung Jong-min, Head of Turkey Branch, Appointed as New CGV CEO
4DPLEX's New CEO is a 1990s Management Leader

CJ Group announced on the 18th that it has appointed Heo Min-hoe, CEO of CJ CGV, as the new head of management support at the holding company, and promoted Lee Sun-young, General Manager of CJ ENM Commerce Division, to CEO of CJ ENM Commerce Division. Jung Jong-min, head of CGV Turkey, was selected as the new CEO of CJ CGV, filling the vacancy left by Heo's move.

Heo Min-hoe, Head of Management Support at CJ Holdings (left), and Lee Sun-young, Head of Commerce Division at CJ ENM. Photo by CJ

The newly appointed CEO Heo is a financial expert who has played the role of a "troubleshooter" whenever the group and its affiliates faced crises. In 2013, when CJ Foodville was in crisis due to the absence of the group’s head, he served as CJ’s Chief Operating Officer and led the group steadily. With this appointment, Heo returns to the holding company and will serve as co-CEO of CJ Corporation alongside Kim Hong-gi. Until the end of last year, CJ was led by co-CEOs Kim Hong-gi and Kang Ho-sung, but after Kang resigned, Kim led the company alone. The company explained, "CEO Kim will handle internal management as the executive CEO, while CEO Heo will oversee external affairs, dividing their roles accordingly."

CEO Lee joined CJ O Shopping as a new employee in 2000 and has held positions such as Head of Brand Business and Head of MD Headquarters at CJ ENM Commerce Division. As of now, she is the second female affiliate CEO within the group alongside Lee Sun-jung, CEO of Olive Young. Including former CJ ENM Commerce Division CEO Kim Jung-ah, who has stepped down, she is the third female affiliate CEO. The company stated that this promotion recognizes her achievements in advancing the evolution of the "media commerce curation platform" and discovering new product categories and brands based on the "one platform strategy," thereby enhancing the company's competitiveness.

From the left) Yoon Sang-hyun, CEO of CJ ENM; Jung Jong-min, CEO of CGV; Bang Joon-sik, newly appointed CEO of CJ 4DPLEX. Provided by CJ

Yoon Sang-hyun, who had concurrently served as CEO of CJ ENM Entertainment and Commerce Divisions, will now focus on strengthening the competitiveness of the content business as CEO of CJ ENM and head of the Entertainment Division. Jung Jong-min, the new CEO of CJ CGV, joined CJ CGV in 2012 and has held roles such as Head of Marketing and Head of Domestic Business Division. Since 2020, he has overseen the Turkey branch, innovating the business structure and restoring business soundness through efficient operations.

Through this personnel reshuffle, CJ has also appointed its first CEO born in the 1990s. Bang Jun-sik, born in 1990, was appointed as the new CEO of CJ 4DPLEX, a subsidiary of CJ CGV. CJ explained that Bang’s appointment reflects a bold expansion of young talent’s roles to lead innovation in the theater business and global business expansion based on content competitiveness. Bang joined CJ 4DPLEX in 2018 and has served as Head of Content Business Team and leader of the Content Business Innovation Task Force (TF). Since February this year, as Head of Content Division, he has planned and globally distributed numerous CGV-specialized contents applying ScreenX technology, such as BTS’s "Yet To Come In Cinema" and Coldplay’s "Music of the Spheres," contributing to revenue growth. CJ 4DPLEX’s sales last year more than doubled compared to 2019.

Meanwhile, 21 new management leaders were named in this personnel reshuffle. The company explained that outstanding talents were selected regardless of rank or age. The average age of the new management leaders is 44.9 years, with 12 born in the 1980s. A CJ official said, "This personnel reshuffle was carried out with the principle of 'renewal amid stability' and decisive measures." The group will continue to conduct year-round, on-demand personnel changes based on ability and performance, adhering to the principle of placing the best talents in the right positions."