Tongyang, an affiliate of Eugene Group, said on the 31st it has completely revamped its board composition and begun a full-fledged push to upgrade governance.
At the regular shareholders meeting on the 26th, Tongyang appointed Sujin Dolan, CEO of Context Lab, and Eo Jun-kyung, associate professor at Yonsei University, as new independent directors. It then held a board meeting on the 30th and appointed President Jeong Jin-hak and Executive Vice President Yu Jeong-min as co-CEOs, and independent director Hwang I-seok as chair of the board.
The overhaul was designed as a single package that includes a shift to a co-CEO system, the introduction of an independent director as board chair, and the recruitment of global experts. The company said this reflects its intent to secure both professional execution in management and independence in board oversight.
President Jeong Jin-hak is a leading professional manager in the building materials industry with more than 30 years of experience. Since joining Eugene Group in 1994, Jeong has led the ready-mix concrete and building materials divisions, and proved leadership representing the industry by serving as chair of the Korea Ready-Mixed Concrete Industry Association and chair of the Korea Remodeling Association.
With the future uncertain due to the prolonged downturn in the construction market and the Middle East war, Jeong, who has the industry's best on-site experience and network, is expected to return to the front line of management and lead structural improvements in the core businesses and the recovery of profitability.
Executive Vice President Yu Jeong-min is an asset development and space planning expert who has led planning and operations at Studio Eugenia and spearheaded the establishment of Eugene REITs Management, delivering key results in shifting Tongyang's real estate and space infrastructure assets into high value-added businesses. Yu was appointed as a co-CEO to accelerate new businesses based on physical infrastructure, such as developing urban AI data centers.
Appointing independent director Hwang I-seok as board chair separates the CEO and board chair roles to institutionally establish independent monitoring and checks on management execution. A system with an independent director as chair is regarded as advanced governance that prevents conflicts of interest that can arise when the CEO doubles as chair and enables the board to deliberate and oversee key management issues from an independent and objective perspective.
Chair Hwang I-seok is an expert in management and accounting who serves as a professor at Seoul National University's business school and has served as vice president of the Korean Accounting Association.
The expertise of the two new independent directors appointed at this shareholders meeting is also notable. By simultaneously bringing on Sujin Dolan, CEO of Context Lab, in the global content, entertainment, and corporate governance fields, and Eo Jun-kyung, associate professor at Yonsei University, in AI and quantitative finance, the board significantly expanded its expertise and diversity.
A Tongyang official said, "This board redesign has established the optimal management system that can simultaneously support the stable growth of the core building materials business, the transition to an infrastructure platform corporations, and the expansion into new businesses such as content and AI," adding, "Through the introduction of an independent director as chair and a board composed of top experts in each field, we will realize transparent and responsible governance."