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| Hyundai Card headquarters / Courtesy of Hyundai Card |
Vice Chairman Chung Tae-young's leadership put to test
By Anna J. Park
As the CEOs of both Hyundai Card and Hyundai Commercial stepped down from their posts recently without completing their terms, market attention is now focused on Chung Tae-young, vice chairman at Hyundai Card and Hyundai Commercial, as to the reasons for the CEOs' sudden resignations and the vice chairman's future moves with the firms.
The two departed CEOs were both appointed in April last year. Back then, Chung Tae-young stepped down from his long-held CEO role at Hyundai Commercial. But he decided to co-lead Hyundai Card with its newly appointed CEO, while maintaining his CEO position at the card firm, focusing on the company's new ventures and future strategic plans.
However, in just a year and a half after the appointment, the two CEOs decided to leave their positions without stating clear reasons behind their sudden resignations.
Lee Byung-hui, who led Hyundai Commercial from April last year to last month this year, stepped down from the leading position for unidentified personal reasons. Considering his term as CEO was supposed to last until March 2024, he left the position after serving only about half of the term.
Kim Deok-hwan, who led Hyundai Card from April last year to early this month, also decided to step down for personal reasons. His departure was surprising, as there were high expectations when he became the youngest CEO appointed to lead a local card company last year.
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| Hyundai Card and Hyundai Commercial Vice Chairman Chung Tae-young |
Kim's month-long absence from the firm in Seoul during the month prior to his resignation also raises questions about the reason for his decision to leave.
While both former CEOs didn't specify their reasons for leaving, some speculate whether their resignations had something to do with an internal conflict with Vice Chairman Chung. Although Hyundai Card officials strongly denied any rumors in the market, questions still remain.
Chung also seems to have complicated thoughts regarding the CEOs' departures.
"Every single day is precious and hard. When a day passes smoothly without an issue, I wonder why; when something happens, I also wonder why it is so rough," he wrote on Facebook earlier this week, after the news about the two CEOs' resignations broke out.
With the two previous CEOs leaving, Hyundai Commercial is currently preparing to appoint a new CEO through a candidate recommendation committee. Meanwhile, Hyundai Card has now returned to Chung Tae-young's sole leadership from the previous joint leadership.
Market watchers view that Chung's leadership will now be put to the test again, as the card company faces important tasks related to its planned introduction of Apple Pay here later this year, raising company net profits and stabilizing company morale and structures.
Hyundai Card posted a net profit of 155.7 billion won ($112 million) during the first half of this year, which is a 14.6 percent fall from the same period last year. With this poor performance, Hyundai Card's league table fell to fourth place among local card companies for the first time in nine years.
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