Shinsegae Group on the 26th carried out its regular executive appointments for 2026. Framed as an "early personnel reshuffle" brought forward by a month from last year, it reflects a resolve to respond preemptively to the rapidly changing business environment and to execute urgent tasks swiftly.
This reshuffle showed a clear generational shift, including leadership changes at eight affiliates, two promotions to president, and the bold selection of CEOs born in the 1980s. Of the 32 newly appointed executives, 14 are in their 40s, lifting the share of executives in their 40s to 16% of the total. The group said it will maximize core business competitiveness with new leadership that embodies meritocracy.
Those promoted to president are Park Joo-hyung, head of Shinsegae Department Store, and Moon Sung-uk, head of CIGNITE. Park was recognized for leading the Gangnam branch food hall renewal and content innovation, including "House of Shinsegae" and "Sweet Park," and will also serve as head of Shinsegae Central to continue identifying future growth engines.
Moon, who is also the husband of Chair Jeong Yu-kyung, will concurrently serve as head of Shinsegae Live Shopping following CIGNITE, leading the advancement of live commerce and expanding group online synergies.
There were also extensive CEO changes and appointments-in-waiting. Gmarket, aligning with its shift to a joint venture with Alibaba International, has tapped e-commerce expert James Chang (Chang Seung-hwan), who managed Lazada, as CEO-designate to spearhead a renewed push centered on "global expansion for sellers" and "strengthening AI tech capabilities."
SSG.com appointed supply chain management (SCM) expert Choi Taek-won, currently Emart's head of sales, as CEO, moving to maximize fresh and grocery competitiveness through Emart–SSG.com collaboration.
At Shinsegae International, Kim Deok-joo, head of the overseas fashion division, was named the new CEO, while at Shinsegae Food, Lim Hyeong-seop, who oversees B2B (business-to-business), was promoted to CEO to steer the transition to a "food B2B specialist company."
Josun Hotels & Resorts named Choi Hoon-hak (former SSG.com CEO) as its new chief, and Shinsegae DF (duty free) tapped Lee Seok-gu (former Shinsegae Live Shopping CEO). Shinsegae Engineering & Construction will see Kang Seung-hyeop (former Shinsegae Food CEO) move in as CEO.
Young leaders took the forefront in the beauty and lifestyle segment, marked as a future growth pillar. At Shinsegae International, Seo Min-sung, born in 1980, was named head of Cosmetics Division 1, and Lee Seung-min, born in 1985, was named head of Cosmetics Division 2. Lee is the group's first female chief executive officer (CEO), who joined the group as head of the cosmetics brand Amuse acquired by Shinsegae International last year and now oversees cosmetics businesses including VIDIVICI.
Kim Hong-geuk was appointed head of the JAJU division and will concurrently serve as CEO of Shinsegae Casa and as general manager of Chicor. In addition, across key affiliates including department stores, Emart, Property, and L&B, promotions to executive vice president and senior vice president (and acting) in strategy, finance, SCM, development, and IT, along with role reassignments, were carried out in parallel to bolster execution.
This reshuffle can be summarized in three pillars: accelerating e-commerce and digital transformation (restructuring the Gmarket–SSG.com system, combining CIGNITE and Live Shopping); deepening content and space competitiveness (leadership changes at department stores, hotels, and duty free); and fostering high-growth in beauty and lifestyle (advancing young CEOs).
Shinsegae Group emphasized it will make overcoming the crisis and restoring competitiveness the top priorities through a generational leadership shift based on meritocracy.