Nature Republic dumps disgraced founder
By Lee Hyo-sik
Kim Chang-ho, new Nature Republic CEO
Nature Republic, one of Korea’s low-cost cosmetics brands, has promoted its senior vice president of sales to be the new CEO, replacing disgraced founder Jung Woon-ho who has been in prison for the past nine months.
The company had initially expected Jung to return to its helm early this month after serving an eight-month prison sentence. But he was taken into custody again on separate charges of embezzlement and breach of trust. Jung is also suspected of having orchestrated a scheme to lobby judges, prosecutors and other influential figures to garner a lenient sentence.
Last October, Jung was incarcerated for violating the Foreign Exchange Control Act after gambling overseas. He was found to have lost more than 10 billion won ($8.5 million) at casinos in Macao and the Philippines from March 2012 and October 2014.
With its founder unlikely to be released from prison any time soon, Nature Republic decided to name Kim Chang-ho, senior vice president in charge of domestic sales, as the new CEO. Kim is expected to mobilize all the resources of the company to stabilize its operations at home and abroad, and list the company shares on the local bourse.
The company has been seeking to go public over the past year but Jung’s troubles with the law have made it almost impossible to do so.
“Kim is the right person to restructure our business organization and improve our company image,” a Nature Republic spokesman said. “As a global beauty brand, we will introduce more innovative products that consumers in the United States, China and elsewhere want.”
Nature Republic had initially sought to recruit a new CEO from outside the company, according to industry officials familiar with the matter. But no one was reportedly willing to assume the post as the firm was in bad shape because of its falling sales and tarnished public image. Given these circumstances, it decided to promote Kim as the new CEO.
Kim, who received his bachelor’s degree in English from Konkuk University, began his career at LG Household & Health Care in 1984. He joined The Face Shop, which was founded by Jung, in 2004 and served as a sales executive until it was sold to LG in 2009.
He then joined Nature Republic in 2009 and has since been overseeing its sales operations.