CJ chief returns to top management

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Economy

Fri, July 21, 2017 | 15:37

Finance

CJ chief returns to top management

Posted : 2017-05-17 17:02

Updated : 2017-05-17 17:51

CJ Group Chairman Lee Jay-hyun, center, greets employees as he participates in the opening ceremony of the company's research center in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. Lee returns to the group after a four-year absence after being convicted of embezzlement and tax evasion in 2013. / Yonhap

By Lee Min-hyung

CJ Group Chairman Lee Jay-hyun returned Wednesday to the firm's top management, breaking a four-year hiatus after serving a prison term and receiving medical treatment.

"I will get our incomplete businesses back on the right track by securing next growth engines," Lee said in a CJ Blossom Park opening event in Suwon, Gyeoggi Province. "I feel painful and have a deep sense of responsibility for failing to head the group and secure new revenue areas during my absence."

This is the first time Lee has made a public appearance since May 2013 when he attended an annual corporate conference.

Lee was put behind bars for embezzlement and tax evasion since July 2013. The head of the nation's leading food company was released in August 2016. He has since received medical treatment for certain health ailments, keeping a low profile in the group-wide businesses.

"As of today, I will stand at the forefront of the corporate management," he said, pledging to spare no efforts in his aggressive global expansion drive.

"By 2030, more than three of our businesses have to become the global No. 1," Lee said. "CJ Group's diverse business portfolios ― including content, logistics, food and bio ― will vitalize the local economy, at a critical time when traditional businesses are showing no signs of growth."

CJ Group plans to invest 36 trillion won in the aforementioned cash cow businesses by 2020.

In 2010, Lee said the company would generate 100 trillion won in sales by 2020, with 70 percent of them coming from overseas territories. But the unexpected leadership vacuum put the aggressive pledge on brakes, with CJ affiliates failing to draw group-wide long-term blueprints.

In particular, CJ Group failed to win merger and acquisition contracts with companies put on sale, such as Coway and Dongbu Farm Hannong. On top of that, the company remained passive in investments during Lee's absence. CJ Group had made annual investments of less than 2 trillion won for three years since 2014.

mhlee@ktimes.com