Former CEO Choi Wonjin Leaves Lotte Insurance...Resigns as Inside Director

Resigned on the 19th for personal reasons
New inside director to be appointed at the March shareholders' meeting

Former CEO Choi Wonjin of Lotte Insurance has resigned from his position as inside director.

Choi Wonjin, former executive director at Lotte Non-Life Insurance.

According to the financial sector on the 23rd, Choi resigned on the 19th due to personal reasons. Accordingly, Lotte Insurance plans to hold a regular general shareholders' meeting on March 27 to appoint a new inside director. An agenda item for appointing his successor is expected to be submitted to the shareholders' meeting.

Choi, a former deputy director at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, joined Lotte Insurance as CEO when JKL Partners acquired the company in 2019. Serving as CEO from 2019 to 2021, he led post-acquisition integration and profitability improvement efforts.

He is credited with spearheading structural reforms, including reshaping the portfolio to focus on protection-type insurance products ahead of the introduction of the new accounting standard (IFRS 17). Since 2023, he has also been involved in the sale of Lotte Insurance as a vice president of JKL Partners. JKL is known to have been in discussions with Korea Investment Holdings since the second half of last year regarding a potential sale.

As Lotte Insurance recently submitted a management improvement plan in response to the Financial Services Commission's recommendation for management improvement and withdrew its related administrative lawsuit, some observers interpret this personnel change as a move aimed at reorganizing the company’s governance structure.