[K-CEO]Jeong Yong-jin, Chairman of Shinsegae Group

Early Life and Education

He was born on September 19, 1968, as the eldest son among one son and one daughter of Jeong Jae-eun, former Honorary Chairman of Shinsegae, and Lee Myung-hee, Chairman of the Shinsegae Group. His younger sister is Jeong Yu-kyung, Chairman of Shinsegae.

He studied Western History at Seoul National University and graduated with a degree in Economics from Brown University in the United States.

Career Beginnings

He began his career at Fujitsu Korea.

After joining Shinsegae as a director in the Strategy Planning Office, he served as an executive director in the Planning Coordination Office and as a vice president in the Management Support Office. He became the CEO of Shinsegae in 2010 and also took on the role of CEO of E-Mart in 2011.

As his younger sister, Jeong Yu-kyung, leads the department store and fashion businesses and pursues independence, he is focusing on the process of separating the affiliates.

Leadership and Innovations

Shinsegae Group is said to be facing its biggest crisis since its founding. In 2023, E-Mart recorded its first-ever loss, and Shinsegae also saw a decline in performance.
Jeong Yong-jin was promoted to chairman at a time when both pillars of the group were in difficult situations.

It is analyzed that the group’s judgment that “change is necessary” has led to Jeong Yong-jin’s promotion.

With the promotion of Jeong Yu-kyung to chairman, the official separation of the affiliates has been solidified, establishing a clear policy for independent management of the department store and E-Mart divisions. Consequently, the E-Mart division is expected to bear an even greater burden regarding performance improvement.

Lee Myung-hee, Chairman of Shinsegae Group, will continue to manage the overall group operations from behind the scenes, as she has done in the past, while keeping the possibility open to step in at any time, even after promoting her son to chairman.
Therefore, it is expected to be important for Jeong Yong-jin to instill confidence both inside and outside the group that he possesses sufficient capability to lead Shinsegae Group in the future.

In January 2025, Jeong Yong-jin officially announced the purchase of the E-Mart shares held by Lee Myung-hee, indicating that he is moving forward with the completion of the management succession.

Recent Updates

Jeong Yong-jin, Chairman of Shinsegae Group, is continuing the rigorous reform efforts he has pursued over the past year.

In November 2023, he took the first step toward change by restructuring the group’s strategic office into a management strategy office.

At that time, he instructed the management strategy office to “change everything from the organization to the system and the way work is performed,” signaling an unprecedented transformation.

Believing that “personnel is everything,” Jeong prioritized human resource renewal as his first action. Establishing a thorough performance-based personnel and compensation system was key.

As a result, Shinsegae developed its own “Key Performance Indicators” (KPI). This principle of “rewarding the good and punishing the bad,” backed by Jeong’s commitment to rewarding organizations and employees that achieve results while holding others accountable, was implemented. Based on this, unprecedented frequent personnel changes were also introduced.

Immediately after taking office, he dismissed the CEO of Shinsegae Construction due to poor performance, and in June of last year, he replaced the leaders of e-commerce affiliates, including SSG.com and G-Market, all at once.

Executives confirmed to be involved in “irregularities” were immediately dismissed without leniency, even if they were close associates.

He discarded the long-standing tradition and practice of not making personnel changes outside of regular appointments. This effectively communicated to members that “there will be no more waiting,” instilling a sense of urgency throughout the group.

Jeong suspended his usual activities, including social media engagement and golf, to directly oversee the management issues of the group and its affiliates.
He significantly increased the number of days spent in the office, with a routine of arriving at 9 a.m. and leaving between 8 and 9 p.m. almost every day.