Korea’s retail scene is witnessing a new trend as in-laws step into the forefront of company management, sidelining the conventional role of immediate family members.
Ottogi’s hiring of former LG Electronics Vice President Kim Kyung-ho is the latest example. Kim Kyung-ho is the father-in-law of Ham Yon-ji, the eldest daughter of Ottogi Chairman Ham Young-joon. On Nov. 28, Ottogi hired him as its new Global Business Head.
Similarly, in 2009, Jung Young-soo was appointed as CJ Group’s global management advisor by Chairman Lee Jay-hyun. Jung Young-soo is the father-in-law of Lee Jay-hyun’s eldest daughter, Lee Kyung-hoo.
The most common examples of takeovers are by son-in-laws. In the case of Orion Group, Dam Chul-gon, the husband of Vice Chairwoman Lee Hwa-kyung, who is the second daughter of the late Tongyang Group founder Lee Yang-gu, assumed the role of Chairman after Lee Yang-gu passed away in 1989. Orion Group became an independent entity from Tongyang Group in 2001.
Moon Sung-wook, the Vice President of Shinsegae International, is also the son-in-law of Shinsegae Group’s Chairwoman, Lee Myung-hee. He joined the company in 2004 and held positions overseeing overseas business at Emart and strategic planning at Shinsegae I&C, an IT service provider, before being appointed to his current role. Chung Yoo-kyung, the President of Shinsegae, is his wife.
Another example of a company where a son-in-law is involved in management is Haitai. Shin Jung-hoon, son-in-law of Chairman Yoon Young-dal, joined the company in 2005 when Crown Confectionery and Haitai merged, and has been the CEO of Haitai since 2008.
Experts say Korean leaders believe in entrusting their companies to trusted people, but this can jeopardize the company.
“Publicly traded companies in the United States typically groom talented employees for 10 to 20 years in order to prepare them to take over the company,” said Kim Yong-jin, a Management Information Systems professor at Sogang University.
“However, Korean companies often restrict their trust only to family members, limiting potential growth opportunities for other employees,” he said.
This article was originally published on Nov. 29, 2023.