This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 4:21 p.m. on Jan. 23, 2026.
National Information & Credit Evaluation (NICE) Group's new technology business finance company Nice Investment Partners shifted from a co-CEO structure to a sole-CEO system. This came as Chief Executive Jeong Yong-seon, who had led Nice Investment Partners since its founding in 2007, resigned from the top post. The company will now be led solely by Chief Executive Yoo Seung-cheol.
According to the venture capital (VC) industry on the 23rd, Jeong Yong-seon, chief executive of Nice Investment Partners, resigned as of the end of last year. With Jeong's resignation, the co-CEO structure that began in March last year with the appointment of Chief Executive Yoo Seung-cheol came to an end after one year.
Jeong was called the living witness of Nice Investment Partners. A former member of the industry analysis office at the Kia Economic Research Institute, Jeong became chief executive with the establishment of Nice Investment Partners under National Information & Credit Evaluation (NICE) Group and led the firm for about 18 years. Since first being appointed, Jeong served eight consecutive terms as chief executive through last year.
What stands out is the future position of the former chief executive. Despite resigning as chief executive, the former chief executive is said to be retaining the position of executive vice president. The term runs through Mar. 31, 2027. It is seen as an unusual personnel move for someone who served as chief executive for 18 years to remain at the company with the same executive vice president title.
Some view it as a disciplinary personnel action stemming from difficulties in recovering investment funds from dental implant manufacturer DIO. After expanding from investments in small and venture businesses to private equity fund (PEF) management in 2018 to acquire DIO, the former chief executive effectively accepted the outcome of a failed investment.
Nice Investment Partners acquired management control of DIO in 2018. It formed the 122 billion won project fund "Magnum Private Equity Investment Partnership" and secured a 19.33% management control equity stake in DIO, then purchased 10 billion won worth of convertible bonds to become the largest shareholder with a 25.43% stake.
Since then, for nearly eight years, Nice Investment Partners has been unable to exit DIO. Due to a string of deteriorating results, it is now unable to even recover principal. DIO's share price is currently around 16,000 won, far below the roughly 37,500 won level at the time of Nice Investment Partners' investment.
The former chief executive is cited as the figure who led the DIO investment. After expanding into PEF management, the former chief executive led the entire process from selecting the investment target to forming the investment partnership. After acquiring the management control equity in DIO, the former chief executive also joined the board, being listed as a non-executive director from 2018.
The retention of the former chief executive's executive vice president position is seen as a last-resort measure to maintain continuity of the investment partnerships. As a key figure deeply involved in managing most of the company's investment partnerships, a complete departure could create disqualifying circumstances under fund management contracts.
Some say the former chief executive is now left to focus solely on devising an exit plan for DIO. All company management is said to have been delegated to Yoo. A Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) who worked at Deloitte Anjin LLC, Yoo was promoted to senior executive managing director in this year's personnel moves.
A National Information & Credit Evaluation (NICE) Group official said, "It is true that the former chief executive stepped down from the top post at Nice Investment Partners and is only retaining the executive vice president position," but added, "We cannot disclose details about the shift from co-CEOs to sole CEO Yoo Seung-cheol and the decision to retain the executive vice president position due to internal company matters."