Kumho Petrochemical owner's daughter increases stakes
By Park Hyong-ki
Park Ju-hyung, vice president of Kumho Petrochemical’s purchasing and finance
Park Ju-hyung, vice president of Kumho Petrochemical’s purchasing and finance, has recently increased her stake in the listed resin materials company.
Park recently purchased 1,000 shares at 77,400 won per share, bringing her ownership in the company to 0.77 percent.
She is the daughter of Kumho Petrochemical Chairman and Chief Executive Park Chan-koo.
The chairman is the younger brother of Kumho Asiana Group Chairman Park Sam-koo.
Park Ju-hyung is the only female executive on Kumho Petrochemical’s management team, according to the company’s 2016 annual report.
Her share increase is considered significant, given she held 0.54 percent when she started working for her father in July, 2015.
Even when compared to her older brother and cousin, who are both executives at the company, observers say she seems to be increasing her managerial influence as her father approves of her skills, just as Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee’s daughter Lee Boo-jin, the chief executive of Hotel Shilla.
Park Ju-hyung joined the company and took up a key post when the company uncovered malpractices in the purchasing and finance department.
Her older brother Jun-kyung is the vice president of Kumho Petrochemical’s synthetic resin overseas sales.
Her cousin is Chul-wan, the vice president of its synthetic rubber overseas sales. Chul-wan is the son of Chairman Park Chan-koo’s older brother Jeong-koo, the late-chairman of Kumho Group.
Her brother and cousin’s stakes in the company remained unchanged since 2015.
Jun-kyung has a 7.17 percent share, and Chul-wan has a 10 percent share. Chairman Park Chan-koo has a 6.69 percent share, according to its disclosure.
Kumho Petrochemical’s biggest single shareholder is the National Pension Service with a 12.62 percent share.
The company drew the line over her share purchase, saying it was not part of a sibling rivalry, as reported by many news outlets.
“The vice president’s share increase is to further give herself the responsibility and contribute to the management of the company,” a Kumho Petrochemical spokesperson said.
Park Joo-hyung entered Daewoo International, the trading arm of steelmaker POSCO, in 2010 and worked there until June, 2015.
She graduated from the department of special education at Ewha Womans University in 2013 and went to New York for a training program at Parsons School of Design.
Kumho Petrochemical and Kumho Asiana have no equity ties. They are “totally different and separated,” the two companies said.
Park Chan-koo and Park Sam-koo had been at odds during the restructuring of the group their father started.