One-third of CEOs at Korea’s top 500 companies by revenue will see their terms expire early next year. Lee Boo Seop of Dongjin Semichem has been identified as the longest-serving CEO, with a tenure of 57 years and 2 months.
According to a report released on November 21 by the corporate analysis institute Leaders Index, 163 CEOs (33.3%) out of 489 CEOs from 362 companies that submitted business reports will have their terms end by March 2025.
This marks a 5.3% point increase from three years ago when 27.8% (136 CEOs) were expected to step down.
The report is based on data from business reports published in the first half of this year and includes executive appointments announced as of November 15.
The banking sector showed the highest proportion of CEOs with upcoming term expirations. Among 13 banks, 11 CEOs will finish their terms by the end of this year or by March next year, except for Kim Sung Tae of IBK and Yoo Myung Soon of Citibank Korea. Nine out of 11 CEOs in this sector have served less than three years, while Park Jong Bok of Standard Chartered (9.9 years) and Yoon Ho Young of KakaoBank (7.7 years) are exceptions.
Four out of eight CEOs in the trading sector will see their terms expire by March next year. These include Yoon Joon Sung of LX International, Jung Mong Hyuk and Jang An Seok of Hyundai Corporation, and Lee Young Hwan of GS Global.
Other sectors facing significant turnover include energy (47.4%), automotive and parts (44.2%), credit finance (42.9%), and securities (40.7%). Interestingly, no CEOs in public enterprises, holding companies, or telecommunications are scheduled to leave next year.
The average tenure for CEOs of top 500 companies has slightly decreased from 4.7 years in 2021 to 4.5 years in 2023.
Among the sectors, energy had the longest average CEO tenure at 8.2 years, followed by automotive and parts (7.0 years), consumer goods (5.9 years), food and beverage (5.2 years), and trading (5.1 years).
In contrast, public enterprises (0.9 years), secondary battery manufacturers (1.9 years), and telecommunications companies (2.7 years) have notably shorter average tenures.
The longest-serving CEO among the top 500 companies is Lee Boo Seop, Chairman and CEO of Dongjin Semichem, who has held the position since October 1967.
He is followed by Lee Chang Won, Chairman and CEO of Korea Electric Terminal, with a tenure of 51.7 years; Lee Myung Geun, Chairman and CEO of Sungwoo Hitech, with 43.0 years; Kim Taek Jin, CEO of NCSoft, with 27.8 years; Kang Byung Joong, Chairman and CEO of Nexen Tire, with 25.5 years; and Huh Chang Soo, Chairman and CEO of GS Engineering & Construction, with 24.8 years.
The oldest current CEO is Lee Chang Won of Korea Electric Terminal, who was born in 1936, while the youngest is Kwon Hyuk Min, CEO of Deutsch Motors, who was born in 1986.