Thirty-five subsidiaries of Lotte Group, including Lotte Corp., held their respective board of directors’ meetings and carried out reshuffles of executives for the year 2023.
The personnel changes were conducted after a thorough verification and review process to secure future competitiveness.
They were also conducted under the guise of realizing change and innovation of the existing businesses in consideration of external and internal business conditions and the probability of the arrival of a so-called ‘permacrisis.’
Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin has stressed “New Lotte” during the Value Creation and in-house meetings, weighed up preparations for new businesses and called for solutions to realize a turnaround in the existing businesses.
Against this background, Lotte Group conducted a reshuffle of executives, focusing on endless change and innovation and the creation of future competitiveness.
The takeaways of the recent reshuffle were the transferring of younger leaders at frontlines, strategic repositioning of core capabilities based on responsibility management and hiring outside experts.
The age of president-level executives has been lowered. Vice President Lee Won-jik of Lotte Corp.’s 2nd Growth Team, who was appointed to CEO of Lotte Biologics in June, became the first CEO in his or her 40s in the hierarchy of Lotte Group.
Senior Executive Vice President Lee Hoon-ki of Lotte Corp.’s ESG Management Innovation Office, in his 50s, was promoted to president.
President Lee is now in charge of Lotte Corp.’s ESG Management Innovation Office and Lotte Health Care.
Lotte Health Care and Lotte Biologics, designated as the business group’s future core portfolio, were inaugurated last year, and they had conducted M&As to explore diverse future cash cows.
The age of executives affected in the latest reshuffle averages 57, one year younger than last year’s 58.
The age of presidents has been lowered three years more than the previous year. Newly appointed executives in their 40s accounted for 46 percent of the total.
The four new executives aged 45 or below are Assistant Managing Director Choi Hae-young of Lotte Chilsung, Assistant Managing Director Lee Yong-woo of Lotte Hi-Mart, Assistant Managing Director Hwang Ho-jin of Lotte Global Logistics, and Assistant Managing Director Park Kang-min of Lotte Trading Co.
Vice Chairman and CEO Song Yong-duck of Lotte Corp., Lotte Rental President Kim Hyun-soo and Lotte E&C President Ha Suk-joon stepped down from their respective positions at Lotte, where they had worked at more than 35 years.
For the first time, Lotte hired outside gifted manpower with global competitive and expertise.
Lee Chang-yeop, former senior executive vice president and head of LG Life and Health’s Business Division, was appointed as president of Lotte Confectionery.
Lee is a seasoned global marketing expert who had been with global consumer product companies for more than 30 years in North America and Korea.
He held positions, such as head of Hershey Korea and president of Coca-Cola Korea.
Lotte’s appointing new Lotte Confectionery President Lee is expected to bring about changes in the expanding of overseas markets, raising its branding and organizational innovation.
Lotte E&C President Park Hyun-cheol, who was appointed as CEO in November 2021, was promoted to vice chairman.
Lotte Home Shopping President Lee Wan-shin was tapped as president of Lotte Group Hotel Headquarters and president of Lott Hotel while Kim Hae-joo, ex-managing director of Shinhan Bank, was appointed to be president of Lotte Members.
Assistant Managing Director Shin You-yeol, the eldest son of Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin, was promoted to vice president.
