Fourth generation of Samsung family to become Hansol board director

By Kim Jae-won

Cho Yeon-ju, a great-granddaughter of late Samsung Group founder Lee Byung-chull, will become a board director of Hansol Chemical, industry sources said Monday.

According to sources familiar with the matter, Cho will be elected as a board director of the company at its shareholders meeting Friday. She currently serves as a vice president of the company.

This is the first time that a fourth-generation member of the Samsung family has become a board member of a company.

Cho is the eldest granddaughter of Hansol Group Advisor Lee In-hee, the eldest daughter of Lee Byung-chull and a sister of Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee. Hansol became a spinoff from Samsung in 1991.

Cho previously worked for Boston Consulting Group and Victoria’s Secret, the biggest U.S. lingerie company, before joining Hansol last year.

Hansol Chemical manufactures hydrogen peroxide for the paper, textile and semiconductor industries from its central plants in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province and Ulsan.

Its lines of specialty products have expanded, ranging from a variety of fine chemical technologies and businesses, including latex, papermaking chemicals and polyacrylamide to electronic materials technologies and thin film materials.