In the business community, the share of chief executives (CEOs) or executives born after the 1980s is growing. In the past, there were many cases of appointing young talent in fashion and retail, which are sensitive to trends, but recently, people born in the 1980s are emerging as key players across a wider range of industries and corporations.
According to the business community on the 12th, HD Hyundai appointed then–Senior Vice Chairman Chung Ki-sun as chairman in an executive reshuffle carried out on the 17th of last month. The eldest son of Chung Mong-joon, chairman of the Asan Foundation and the major shareholder, Chung had long been expected to assume the chairmanship, but given that he was born in May 1982 and is only 43, many said he seized control of the group earlier than expected. Among the heads of the top 10 groups, Chung is the only one born in the 1980s.
Kim Dong-Kwan, vice chairman of Hanwha Group and a close friend of Chung, born in 1983, has also expanded his role as the group's representative since his promotion in 2022, standing in for his father, Chairman Kim Seung-Youn. Unlike Chairman Chung, Vice Chairman Kim kept his current rank in this year's executive reshuffle. But with key businesses such as shipbuilding and defense now on a stable track, there is growing expectation he will soon be elevated to chairman.
Chung and Kim also attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju last month as representatives of the business community, alongside Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun and LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo.
Among owner families in the business community, there has been a growing number of cases in recent years of people born in the 1980s being appointed CEOs and beginning succession to management control.
Koo Hyung-mo, CEO of LX MDI and the eldest son of LX Group Chairman Koo Bon-joon, was promoted to president in Nov. last year. Born in 1987, Koo is among the younger CEOs from owner families born in the 1980s. LX Group is a corporation spun off from LG Group in 2021, and Chairman Koo is the younger brother of the late former LG Group Chairman Koo Bon-moo.
In addition, BGF Retail Vice Chairman Hong Jung-kuk (born in 1982), who was promoted to vice chairman in 2023, and Kolon Group Vice Chairman Lee Kyu-ho (born in 1984) are also cited as 1980s-born CEOs representing owner families.
Among professional managers, there are also cases of appointing those born in the 1980s. Choi Soo-yeon, who became CEO of Naver in 2022, was born in 1981 and was only 41 at the time.
This year, Shinsegae Group, in a personnel move in September, appointed James Jang, born in 1985, as CEO of its subsidiary Gmarket and Lee Seung-min, also born in 1985, as CEO of Shinsegae International Cosmetics Division 2. The head of Shinsegae International Cosmetics Division 1 is CEO Seo Min-sung, born in 1980.
Expanding the scope to executives, the share of those born in the 1980s grows even larger across many industries. In an executive reshuffle carried out by four Hanwha Group affiliates—Hanwha Energy, Hanwha TotalEnergies, Hanwha Power Systems and Hanwha Engine—on the 5th, five of the 14 promotions went to people born in 1980. In Naver's executive appointments announced in March, five of the six new executives were born after 1980.
SK Group, in follow-up appointments after a recent reshuffle of presidents, named Ryu Byung-hoon, a vice president in charge of future strategy at SK hynix and born in 1980, as chief secretary to Chairman Chey Tae-won.
At Samsung Electronics, the number of executives born in the 1980s has risen from 11 in 2021 to 20 in 2022, 34 in 2023 and 46 last year. Samsung Electronics plans to carry out appointments for presidents and executives within this month, and many expect the share of executives born in 1980 to grow further.
Headhunting firm Unico Search said that a survey this year of executive rosters at the top 100 corporations found a total of 7,306 executives, of whom 256, or 3.5%, were born in the 1980s. The share of executives born after 1980 rose from 1.5% (105 people) in 2022 to 1.8% (131) in 2023, 2.6% (189) in 2024, and 3.5% (256) this year.
Analysts in the business community say that as new technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), expand, competition intensifies in global markets, and trends change faster, many corporations are entrusting more important roles to talent with younger and fresher perspectives.
A Unico Search official said, "Many corporations are cutting overall executive positions as part of austerity management, but the selection of younger executives, including those born in the 1980s, is increasing noticeably."