Hyundai Department Store Group appoints new CEOs for three subsidiaries

Hyundai Group's retail arm announces new CEOs for subsidiaries including department store and home shopping divisions as part of a leadership reshuffle.

Jeoung Ji-young, the nominee for President and CEO of Hyundai Department Store [HYUNDAI DEPARTMENT STORE GROUP]

The retail arm of Hyundai Group on Thursday appointed new CEOs for three of its subsidiaries, including its core department store and struggling home shopping divisions, after a period of no major leadership reshuffles for its subsidiaries in the past two years.

Specifically, Hyundai Department Store Group named Vice President Jeoung Ji-young as the President and CEO of its department store division.

The reshuffle involved the promotion of 17 executives within the organization and the transfer of 23 executives to different roles. In total, 40 high-ranking executives were impacted by these changes, marking a reduction in scale compared to the previous year, with 52 executives affected. These changes are set to take effect from Jan. 1 of the coming year.

“The main keyword of this executive reshuffle is ‘to introduce change within a stable framework’ [...] taking into account the complex internal and external conditions,” the group explained Thursday.

Regarding the replacement of certain subsidiary CEOs, the company said that “despite maintaining the status quo for the past two years, they have chosen to implement changes in specific areas that are deemed necessary for future growth.”

Looking at the “Big 3" retailers in Korea, Lotte Group is the last to conduct its regular executive reshuffle, and it is expected to do so possibly within this month. This move reflects the sense of crisis brought about by the rapidly changing retail environment, influenced by factors such as the rapid growth of e-commerce players like Coupang and the shift in shopping behavior in the post-Covid era, with less in-store shopping.

Shinsegae Group carried out a substantial shake-up in September — a month earlier than its usual announcement — resulting in the replacement of nine CEOs, including the CEOs of its core divisions like Emart and Shinsegae Department Store.

Local retail sources anticipate that Lotte Group will embark on significant personnel changes or structural adjustments to address its performance challenges.

BY SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]