The governance of Kangnam Jevisco, a listed domestic paint manufacturer, was reshaped following the Oner family's equity inheritance.
After Chair Im Yejung, 73, became the largest shareholder of Kangnam Jevisco at the end of last month, Im's eldest son, CEO Hwang Ik-jun, 47, resigned, bringing a simultaneous change in CEO and largest shareholder. The company shifted from the dual CEO system of Hwang Ik-jun and Kim Jae-hyun to a single-CEO system under professional manager Kim Jae-hyun.
The former CEO Hwang is the grandson of the late Kangnam Jevisco founder Hwang Hak-gu and a third-generation Oner manager. After graduating from Rochester Institute of Technology in the United States, Hwang joined Kangnam Jevisco in 2011 when his father, Chair Hwang Sung-ho, passed away. He then served as head of overseas business and head of corporate planning before becoming CEO in 2016, leading the company for about 10 years.
Chair Im also took the chairmanship in 2011 and has overseen the company's management. Accordingly, Kangnam Jevisco maintained a "mother and son management" system centered on Chair Im and the former CEO Hwang for the past decade, but that system has come to an end with this personnel change.
The direct trigger for the governance change was the death of Im's second son, Hwang Ik-su. The 18.87% equity held by Hwang was inherited by his mother, Chair Im, on the 29th of last month. As a result, Im's equity increased to 23.95%, and the largest shareholder changed from former CEO Hwang Ik-jun (19.24%) to Chair Im.
On the 31st of last month, two days after the equity succession, the former CEO Hwang resigned from both the CEO post and the inside director position for personal reasons. With this, Hwang fully stepped down from management and the board, which is interpreted not as a simple reassignment but as a "withdrawal from the front lines of management."
In the industry, attention is on the fact that the former CEO Hwang stepped down despite holding 19.24% equity. This is being analyzed as a restructuring move to clarify a governance structure with his mother, Chair Im, at the apex.
Im's second son, Hwang Ik-su, joined with the former CEO Hwang in 2011 and participated in management, but left the company in the late 2010s for academic reasons. Im's youngest daughter, Hwang Su-jin, holds 4.44% equity in Kangnam Jevisco but does not participate in management.
The former CEO Hwang's resignation is also seen as influenced by weak performance. Kangnam Jevisco posted 643.1 billion won in revenue and 20.5 billion won in operating profit in 2024. Revenue increased from the previous year, but operating profit fell 11% from 23.1 billion won. Notably, the paint business, which accounts for about 57% of total revenue, continues to run at a loss. The paint business operating loss was 17.5 billion won in 2022, 5.5 billion won in 2023, and 7.4 billion won in 2024.
Although the former CEO Hwang stepped back from Kangnam Jevisco's management, he is reportedly serving as a director at affiliates such as Kangnam Hwaseong (adhesives and synthetic resins manufacturer) and Kangnam Geonyeong (construction company), remaining involved in some affiliate management.
A business community source said, "This personnel move is interpreted as a decision to tidy up governance following the inheritance and shift to a professional management system," adding, "Whether profitability in core businesses, including the paint business, improves will be a variable that determines the former CEO Hwang's role going forward."