Jeong Un-ho, the founder of Nature Republic, recently resigned from the position of CEO. Lee Seung-jeong, head of Nature Republic's Americas division, has been newly appointed as the next CEO.
According to the cosmetics industry on the 10th, Lee Seung-jeong, head of Nature Republic's Americas division, will assume the role of new CEO. The new CEO, born in 1982, has been responsible for Nature Republic's business in the Americas. This change appears to align with the management strategies for overseas business activities. A Nature Republic official noted, "With the appointment of a new CEO, we aim to diversify our business strategies in both domestic and overseas markets to promote overall business growth."
Although Jeong resigned from the CEO position this time, he will continue to serve as chairman of Nature Republic's executive management. Previously, he stepped down from the CEO role once in 2016 due to the so-called "Jeong Un-ho Gate" incident.
The Jeong Un-ho Gate refers to a judicial corruption case involving former CEO Jeong, who was under investigation for allegations of gambling in Macau. As suspicions of favoritism and lobbying arose, it involved prosecutors and Director General-level lawyers. After a prolonged absence from management due to incarceration, he returned to the position of CEO of Nature Republic in 2020, four years after stepping down, and maintained the position until last month.
Meanwhile, Nature Republic announced on the 20th of last month that the largest shareholder of SSANGBANGWOOL would change from the existing Kanglim to its subsidiary, World Prime Development. World Prime Development is a real estate leasing company in which Jeong holds a 40% equity stake.
As Nature Republic acquired SSANGBANGWOOL, the SSANGBANGWOOL Group was effectively dismantled and transitioned to an independent management system for each corporation. The name of SSANGBANGWOOL was also changed to TRY.