KoreaWho - Biographical and news service about individuals who have a significant impact on the Korean economy

- CEO of JW Pharmaceutical
  Shin Young-seop
  
  Shin Young-seop is the CEO of JW Pharmaceutical. He is accelerating the shift to a research and development-centered business structure while focusing on clinical progress in key pipelines and portfolio expansion. He was born on October 5, 1963. He graduated from Chung-Ang University with a degree in trade and joined JW Pharmaceutical. After serving as branch sales manager, head of the sales division, and head of the pharmaceutical business division, he was appointed CEO in 2017. He is a “one-club man” who has spent nearly 40 years at JW Pharmaceutical and is now in his 10th full year as CEO. Coming from the sales division, he has a deep understanding of the pharmaceutical field. He has earned the trust of the owner family, as shown by his fourth consecutive reappointment in 2026. He is also carrying the burden of judicial risk over a violation of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act. #JWPharmaceutical #ShinYoungseop #pharmaceuticalindustry #RND #drugpipeline #portfolioexpansion #CEOprofile #Koreapharma #clinicaldevelopment #PharmaceuticalAffairsAct
- CEO of Taihan Fiberoptics
  Seol Yoon-suk
  
  Seol Yoon-suk is the CEO of Taihan Fiberoptics. He is focusing on getting ahead of demand from AI data centers, using the optical communications business as a foundation for rebuilding. He is also speeding up efforts to secure a local production base in the United States and shift the business structure toward high-value-added products. He was born on February 28, 1981, as the eldest son of the late Seol Won-ryang, former chairman of Taihan Electric Wire. He graduated from Seoul Daewon Foreign Language High School and Yonsei University with a degree in business administration. After his father suddenly passed away, he joined Taihan Electric Wire and began management training. He served as assistant vice president of the Overseas Sales Group, executive vice president of the Management Support Division, and then vice president of the Strategic Planning Division. In 2011, he rose to vice chairman of Taihan Electric Wire. He later gave up management control in 2013 during the restructuring process. He moved to Taihan Fiberoptics, regained management control through a call option, and stepped to the front line of management when he became CEO in 2024. #SeolYoon-suk #TaihanFiberoptics #CEO #OpticalCommunications #AIDataCenter #USProduction #HighValueProducts #TaihanElectricWire #BusinessRestructuring #KoreanBusiness
- CEO of Shinsegae DF
  Lee Seock-koo
  
  Lee Seock-koo is the CEO of Shinsegae DF. He was brought in as a firefighter to overcome the downturn in the duty-free industry and break the streak of losses. He was born on June 18, 1949, in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. He graduated from Seoul Dongsung High School and the Department of Business Administration at Yonsei University. He began his career at Samsung C&T and worked as a director of planning and management at the company. He later moved to Samsung Corning, where he served as a planning director and as a finance director at its Shenzhen, China subsidiary. After joining Shinsegae Department Store as head of the support division for the department store business, he went on to serve as head of the support division for Shinsegae E-Mart before being appointed CEO of The Chosun Hotel in 2002. He then moved to Starbucks Korea, where he served as CEO for 11 years, and also held positions as CEO of Shinsegae International’s Jaju business division, CEO of Shinsegae Department Store’s New Growth Promotion Committee, and CEO of Shinsegae Live Shopping. He was appointed CEO of Shinsegae DF in October 2025. Just one month after taking office, he decided on a partial withdrawal from Incheon Airport duty-free stores, focusing on improving business efficiency and restructuring. While leading Starbucks Korea for more than 10 years, he became the first in the coffee industry to surpass KRW 1 trillion (US$ 719.4 million) in annual sales. #ShinsegaeDF #LeeSeockkoo #DutyFreeIndustry #StarbucksKorea #RetailLeadership #CorporateTurnaround #IncheonAirport #KoreaBusiness #ExecutiveProfile #Shinsegae
  NEWS
  - • 'Starbucks Magic' Lee Seock-koo Revamps Shinsegae Live Shopping, Targets Key Affiliates
- Chairman of the National Credit Union Federation of Korea
  Ko Young-cheol
  
  Ko Young-cheol is the Chairman of the National Credit Union Federation of Korea. He has focused on improving financial soundness by managing delinquency ratios. He was born in 1959 in Gasa Literary Village-myeon, Damyang County, South Jeolla Province. He graduated from Gwangju Commercial High School and Chosun University, where he majored in accounting. He began his career after joining Hanil Bank. He built his career across both banks and securities firms, including Shinhan Bank and Seoul Securities. He took part in the founding of Gwangju Munhwa Credit Union together with 20 promoters. He was appointed the inaugural chairman of the Gwangju Munhwa Credit Union Welfare Scholarship Foundation. After serving as a standing director and executive managing director of Gwangju Munhwa Credit Union, he was appointed chairman in 2022. He was reappointed in 2024. He was elected chairman of the National Credit Union Federation of Korea in 2026. Starting from hands-on working-level roles, he has a high level of understanding of both on-the-ground operations and the overall financial industry. #KoYoung-cheol #NationalCreditUnionFederationofKorea #CreditUnion #financialsoundness #delinquencymanagement #SouthJeolla #GwangjuMunhwaCreditUnion #Koreanfinance #cooperativefinance #Chairman
- Honorary Chairman of Dongwon Group
  Kim Jae-chul
  
  Kim Jae-chul is Honorary Chairman of Dongwon Group. He was born on April 7, 1935, in Gangjin, South Jeolla, as the eldest son among nine siblings. He graduated from Gangjin Agricultural High School and from Busan Fisheries University, now Pukyong National University. He began his connection with the fisheries industry by boarding Jinam-ho, Korea’s first deep-sea fishing vessel. He founded Dongwon Industries and began deep-sea fishing operations, and entered the financial industry by acquiring Hanshin Securities. Through mergers, acquisitions, and investments, he expanded into industries including construction, telecommunications, secondary batteries, and logistics, creating Dongwon Group. In 1989, he became Chairman of Dongwon Group. In 2003, he also served as Chairman of Dongwon Financial Holdings. In 2019, the 50th anniversary of the company’s founding, he stepped down from frontline management and has since served as Honorary Chairman and management advisor. In 2023, he came to the forefront of the bid to acquire HMM, moving aggressively toward his “last dream.” He is also keeping an eye on the bio market. He launched Korea’s first canned tuna product and created “Dongwon Tuna,” one of the country’s 대표 products. By acquiring StarKist, the largest canned tuna company in the United States, he rose to No. 1 in the world in both tuna catch volume and tuna processing. He also served as Chairman of the Korea International Trade Association. #KimJae-chul #DongwonGroup #DongwonTuna #StarKist #deepseafishing #Koreabusiness #HMM #biomarket #mergersandacquisitions #Koreanentrepreneur
- CEO of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power
  Kim Hoe-kocheon
  
  Kim Hoe-kocheon is the CEO of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power. He is expected to focus on the successful execution of overseas projects already won and on winning orders tailored to the needs of countries seeking to open new markets. He was born on October 20, 1960, in Gangneung, Gangwon Province. He graduated from Daegwang High School in Seoul and from the Department of Public Administration at Kookmin University. He joined Korea Electric Power Corporation and served as head of the South Seoul Regional Headquarters, head of the Management Division, and then Executive Vice President for Management Support. After leaving KEPCO, he was appointed CEO of Korea South-East Power in 2021. He took office as CEO of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power in March 2026. He led Korea South-East Power’s return to profit and improvement in business performance. As a former KEPCO vice president, he faces the task of restoring relations between the two organizations, which have been at odds over the issue of settling costs for overseas nuclear power projects. #KimHoe-kocheon #KHNP #KoreaHydroNuclearPower #KEPCO #KoreaSouthEastPower #nuclearpower #overseasprojects #energysector #CEOprofile #Koreanexecutive
- Chairman of Korea Zinc
  Choi Yun-birm
  
  Choi Yun-birm is Chairman of Korea Zinc. He is in charge of “Project Crucible,” a smelter construction project in Tennessee in the United States that will produce 13 types of non-ferrous metals, in line with the trend of global supply chain restructuring. He is defending against the attempt by the MBK Partners-Young Poong alliance to take control of Korea Zinc’s management. He was born on March 17, 1975, as the second son among the two sons and one daughter of the late Choi Chang-geol, honorary chairman of Korea Zinc, and Yoo Jung-keun, former president of the Korean Red Cross. He graduated from St. Paul’s School in the United States and majored in mathematics and English literature at Amherst College. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from Columbia Law School. After working as a lawyer in New York State, he joined Korea Zinc as a director and head of the Management Support Division at the Onsan Smelter. He later served as CEO of Korea Zinc’s local corporation for mine development in Peru and as CEO of Sun Metals Corporation (SMC), an Australian zinc smelter that is a subsidiary of Korea Zinc, before being appointed co-CEO and president of Korea Zinc in 2019. He became chairman in 2022. In the management control dispute, he showed the traits of a tough dealmaker by overcoming a disadvantage in shareholding and using every possible means. #KoreaZinc #ChoiYunbirm #ProjectCrucible #nonferrousmetals #globalsupplychain #Tennessee #MBKPartners #YoungPoong #managementdispute #smelting
  NEWS
  - • Did Choi Yoon-beom Defend Korea Zinc? Final Judgment Lies with the Court—and That Day Is Coming
  - • Korea Zinc Cancels Rights Offering, Choi Yoon-beom: "Stepping Down as Chairman, Apologies"
- CEO of Kolon Industries
  Heo Seong
  
  Heo Seong is the CEO of Kolon Industries. He oversees the manufacturing division and has set "achieving globally competitive OE" as the top priority. He is focusing on a complete transformation into a high-tech IT and mobility materials company. He was born on May 24, 1961. He graduated from the University of British Columbia in Canada with a degree in economics, earned a master's degree in economics from the University of Windsor, and completed the doctoral coursework in economics at Carleton University. He worked as Vice President of Purchasing at U.S.-based Metal Sales and as Managing Director at AkzoNobel in the Netherlands. After returning to Korea, he served as Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Samhwa Paints, Hanwha L&C (now Hyundai L&C), and AirFirst. He was recruited by Kolon as Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) and was appointed CEO of Kolon Plastics in 2022. After serving as CEO of Kolon ENP, he was appointed CEO of Kolon Industries in 2025, just four years after joining the company. He is a rare outside hire at Kolon, which has a strong tradition of promoting insiders. He is regarded as the right person to lead the group's new business control tower. The original Korean uses the term “OE,” but it does not explain what the abbreviation stands for, so the meaning may be unclear to English readers unless the full term is provided in the source. #HeoSeong #KolonIndustries #KolonENP #KolonPlastics #CEOKorea #mobilitymaterials #advancedmaterials #ITmaterials #manufacturingleadership #Koreanbusiness
- Chairman and CEO of Miwon Commercial
  Hong Chang-shik
  
  Hong Chang-shik is Chairman and CEO of Miwon Commercial. He is focusing on diversifying the company’s business structure around high-value-added electronic materials and making facility investments to secure future growth drivers. He was born on October 10, 1959. He graduated from the Department of Chemical Engineering at Seoul National University. He received a master’s degree and a doctorate in chemical engineering from Seoul National University Graduate School. He began his career as a project engineer at the Central Research Institute of Tongyang Group and worked as head of the technology management department, and was appointed CEO of AATLAB, which makes functional cosmetic ingredients. He joined Miwon Commercial in 2001 and served as plant manager and head of the production technology division before being appointed President and CEO in 2011. He was promoted to chairman in 2020. As an engineer by background, he has a management philosophy centered on processes and technology. He is a representative long-serving professional manager who has led Miwon Commercial for 26 years. He is serving as Vice Chairman of the Korea Chemical Management Association. #MiwonCommercial #HongChangshik #chemicalindustry #electronicmaterials #specialtychemicals #facilityinvestment #businessdiversification #KoreaChemicalManagementAssociation #CEObiography #corporatestrategy
- CEO of Shinhan Card
  Park Chang-hun
  
  Park Chang-hun is CEO of Shinhan Card. He is working to improve profitability to help Shinhan Card recover its earnings. He is focusing on strengthening the card company’s core competitiveness by improving payment convenience and taking preemptive action in the next-generation payments market. He was born on May 5, 1968. He graduated from Jinju High School in South Gyeongsang Province and from Yonsei University with a degree in political science and diplomacy. He joined LG Card and worked in positions including head of the Sales Planning Team. After Shinhan Card acquired and merged with LG Card, he worked at Shinhan Card as head of the New Growth Division and head of the Play Business Division. After serving as head of the Payment Group, he was appointed CEO of Shinhan Card in 2025. He is a card business expert who has worked only in the card industry for more than 30 years, and he is the subject of an “unconventional personnel appointment” in which he was promoted from division-head level to CEO. #ShinhanCard #ParkChanghun #creditcard #payments #fintech #KoreaFinance #digitalpayments #cardindustry #profitability #CEO
  NEWS
  - • Shinhan Card Files 'iPay' Trademark, Signaling Deeper Payment Partnership with Apple

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