In the past, most corporations in Korea moved on the strong leadership and decisiveness of their founders. Samsung led by Lee Byung-chul and Hyundai led by Chung Ju-yung are prime examples. But as these corporations now vie for the top spot in the global market, they have grown so large that it is difficult for the owner alone to take responsibility for management. The role of the so-called "keyman," who manages each field from closest to the owner and plays a pivotal role in final decision-making for the future, has grown in importance. We introduce the keymen of major corporations that lead the Korean economy and examine the roles and tasks given to them. [Editor's note]
On Nov. 27, 2024, in GS Group's regular personnel reshuffle, the person who drew the most attention was Hong Soon-ki of GS Co., who was promoted from president to vice chairman. In that reshuffle, GS Retail CEO Huh Yeon-soo stepped down, making Vice Chairman Hong, a professional manager, the only vice chairman within the group.
A GS Group official said, "It was a personnel move that reflected Chairman Huh's full confidence in building a structure that can withstand any external shock in an uncertain management environment," adding, "At the same time, it was interpreted as a signal to accelerate the future growth drive that Chairman Huh is pushing."
In the subsequent 2026 personnel changes, GS Energy President Heo Yong-su and GS Caltex President Hur Sae-hong were promoted to vice chairmen, and GS Group now has a three-vice-chairman system. Hong remains the only vice chairman not from the owner family.
◇ One of nine professional managers to reach the top post of "vice chairman" in GS's 22-year history
According to the business community on the 31st, since 2004, when GS Group split from LG Group, it has maintained a "two-top system" of the group owner and a professional manager as co-CEOs of the holding company.
Of the nine professional managers who rose to vice chairman at GS Group over 22 years, only three have served as CEO of GS Co. Ahead of Vice Chairman Hong, only Vice Chairman Seo Kyung-seok and Vice Chairman Jung Taek-geun served as CEOs of GS Co. They worked in tandem with first owner Huh Chang-soo, now honorary chairman.
Vice Chairman Hong was appointed CEO (president) of GS Co. when Huh Tae-soo took office as chairman in 2020. Since then, he has worked as co-CEO with Chairman Huh to this day. The CEO of the holding company coordinates the group's overall strategy and outlines future growth engines.
◇ Forty years digging one well at GS Group… a finance expert who served as the longest-tenured CFO
Vice Chairman Hong is a finance expert who served the longest tenure among the holding company's previous chief financial officers (CFOs).
Born in Busan in 1959, he graduated from Jinju Daea High School, Busan National University's economics department, and Yonsei University's master's program in economics. He began his career right after graduating from college in 1986 at Honam Oil (now GS Caltex). His first workplace was the accounting department at Honam Oil's Yeocheon plant.
During the 1998 foreign exchange crisis, he served as deputy director at LG Group's restructuring headquarters, and later handled practical work during the separation of GS and LG. He moved to GS Group in 2004, serving as head of finance at GS Caltex and head of management at GS EPS (executive director), and has worked at the holding company GS Co. for nearly 20 years since 2007.
Vice Chairman Hong held the CFO post at GS Co. longer than anyone else. Appointed CFO and head of finance in Dec. 2008, he changed ranks from executive director to senior executive vice president to president, and for 11 years managed the holding company's finances until becoming CEO of GS Co.
Given GS Group's preference for CEOs with CFO backgrounds at its affiliates, many expected from the time Vice Chairman Hong was appointed CEO of GS Co. that his promotion to vice chairman was only a matter of time. The CFO post at GS Co. has been an elite course for professional managers and a gateway to affiliate CEO roles.
Historically, GS Group has valued the role of finance executives. In the past, when the Huh and Koo families jointly managed LG Group, the Koo family mainly handled external matters such as business expansion, while the Huh family focused on internal solidity such as finance and management, and that stance has continued.
As CFO, Vice Chairman Hong led the group's major mergers and acquisitions (M&A). The acquisitions of Ssangyong Co. (now GS Global) in 2009, DKT (now GS Entec) in 2010, and STX Energy (now GS E&R) in 2014 all passed through his hands.
In 2012, he also completed the physical split-off of GS Energy. During his CFO years, he can be seen as having spearheaded governance restructuring, including GS Group's investments and cash management.
Some also view Hong's Busan roots as a factor in his selection as CEO of the holding company and vice chairman. All non-owner CEOs of GS Group's holding company to date were born in the Busan–Gyeongnam region. Former Vice Chairman Seo Kyung-seok is from Hamyang, Gyeongnam, and former second CEO Vice Chairman Jung Taek-geun is from Geochang, Gyeongnam.
◇ Pursuing essence over form with "Post-it pragmatism"
Vice Chairman Hong is known to favor a management style that emphasizes efficiency and practicality over trappings and formality.
A GS Group official said, "Vice Chairman Hong prefers to jot core ideas on Post-its and share them immediately rather than pouring energy into dressing up reports with flashy templates," adding, "Even in his absence, a single Post-it left on Vice Chairman Hong's desk suffices as a report, showing how little he is bound by form."
Vice Chairman Hong often diagrams issues with a pen on newspaper and replaces written reports with verbal updates. The message is to focus on content rather than waste time drafting reports. He also makes decisions quickly and clearly.
Those at GS Group who have worked with Vice Chairman Hong said, "He is a leader who cuts through complex issues at a stroke, pinpoints the essence, and swiftly lays out clear guidelines."
Multiple figures, including alumni from Busan National University and former outside directors, agreed that while he is quiet and gentle, his comprehension and situational judgment are exceptionally quick.
◇ Ranking in the business community fell for two straight years from 8th → 9th → 10th… facing the task of seeking new growth engines
The tasks before Vice Chairman Hong are not few. First, he must lift the business community ranking, which fell for two consecutive years after 2023. In the "2025 designation results for public disclosure-targeted business groups" released by the Korea Fair Trade Commission, GS Group was the only one among the top 10 groups to drop one notch, falling from ninth to 10th.
During this period, total assets declined from 80.824 trillion won to 79.317 trillion won. In 2024, GS Group's business community ranking also fell from eighth to ninth, but it failed to recover and instead slipped further.
GS Group's ranking decline is largely due to weak performance in its mainstay refining business. When the corporations were split, GS Group grew by taking on major affiliates such as LG Petrochemical (now GS Caltex), LG Distribution (now GS Retail), and LG Engineering & Construction (now GS Engineering & Construction), but its business structure has seen little change to this day. In particular, GS Caltex accounts for more than half of the group's total sales.
The problem is that the refining industry's growth potential has shrunk compared with before due to the energy transition and saturation in the petrochemical market. Another growth pillar, retail, is also in a slump. Competition in the convenience store business has intensified, and traditional retail is also struggling, leading GS Retail's results to remain sluggish. GS Engineering & Construction likewise has been unable to gain traction amid a prolonged slump in construction.
Park Joo-geun, head of Leaders Index, said, "It is urgent to discover new growth engines that can make up for the weakness in core businesses such as refining, retail, and construction."
◇ Orchestrated the acquisitions of GS Global, GS E&R, and Hugel… but GS is seen as conservative in M&A
It is not that GS Group has not pursued new growth engines. As CFO of the holding company, Vice Chairman Hong took over Ssangyong Co., changed its name to GS Global (July 2009), and acquired STX Energy, changing its name to GS E&R (Feb. 2014), overseeing the process. GS Global is a general trading company, and GS E&R is a power generation corporation that operates district energy businesses and thermal power plants.
After becoming CEO of the holding company, in Aug. 2021, Vice Chairman Hong laid the groundwork for a pivot to a bio corporation when GS Co. acquired a stake in Botox specialist Hugel. At that time, GS Co. formed a consortium with IMM Investment and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) sovereign wealth fund Mubadala to acquire a 47% stake in Hugel.
However, assessments say it is still insufficient to change GS Group's fundamental makeup. After signaling it had marked bio as a future cash cow through the Hugel acquisition, GS Group withdrew from the 3D intraoral scanner company Medit acquisition race in Nov. 2022. Some said GS Group's characteristic "conservative," or "knock on the stone bridge before crossing," corporate culture was at work again.
Indeed, in the M&A market, GS Group has shown more defense than offense, and more stability than boldness. A prime example is its midstream withdrawal from acquiring Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering. In Oct. 2008, GS Group formed a consortium with POSCO to try to acquire Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, but declared withdrawal just before bidding. GS Group also dropped out midway in the same year's Korea Express acquisition race. In 2019, it selected an advisory group for the Asiana Airlines acquisition but did not participate in the final bid.
In an interview commemorating the compilation of GS Group's 20th anniversary company history, Vice Chairman Hong said, "GS Group has many shareholders, which has pros and cons. Because shareholders make responsible decisions after sufficient discussion, all businesses proceed cautiously and do not make unilateral decisions," adding, "However, because decisions are cautious, we sometimes miss opportunities, but in retrospect, such decisions often helped us avoid difficulties." He continued, "GS's main businesses are relatively stable and do not change much," adding, "Members also tend to pursue internal solidity and stability."
◇ "Vice Chairman Hong is the future control tower designed by Chairman Huh… securing financial soundness"
Since Chairman Huh took office and Vice Chairman Hong became CEO of the holding company, GS Group has shifted course to seek new sources of revenue. At the center are investment firms GS Futures and GS Beyond, and venture capital GS Ventures. As of March this year, GS Futures had invested in 100 startups and venture firms, and GS Ventures in 40.
As Chairman Huh designs GS Group's future through venture investment and artificial intelligence (AI), Vice Chairman Hong handles budget execution, organizational restructuring, and risk management. A representative outcome is that the group's financial soundness has improved under Vice Chairman Hong's leadership. The group's consolidated debt ratio was 105.7% at the end of 2022, 95.4% at the end of 2023, 89.8% at the end of 2024, and 86.03% at the end of 2025, declining steadily.
A GS Group official said, "If Chairman Huh is the architect designing the group's future, Vice Chairman Hong is the steward who brings that design to life," adding, "Under Vice Chairman Hong, GS Group has further solidified its financial structure and succeeded in securing the financial flexibility to make aggressive investments at any time." The official added, "Vice Chairman Hong has performed a sophisticated control-tower role, ensuring that resources needed for innovation are allocated to the right places without undermining financial stability."
In the interview commemorating the compilation of the company history, Vice Chairman Hong said, "Since Chairman Huh took office, there have been many changes. We are making many venture investments and actively promoting digital businesses and eco-friendly sectors," adding, "We are in the process now, so it may be hard for outsiders to see clear results, but it takes a lot of time for all businesses to become visible. Within the next few years, you will be able to see the group's changed stature."