By Kim Jae-heun
Starbucks Korea has appointed Shinsegae I&C CEO Sohn Jeong-hyun to lead Korea's largest coffee chain, replacing outgoing CEO Song Ho-seop who was criticized for his inadequate handling of a series of company mishaps, Shinsegae Group said Thursday.
Sohn is facing a range of daunting tasks left by his scandal-hit predecessor, as he needs to improve the coffee chain's tarnished brand image and strengthen its competitiveness amid intensifying competition and soaring ingredient costs. Song was initially contracted to lead Starbucks Korea until 2025, but he was sacked three years early due to a series of blunders over the past year.
The new CEO's top priority is to regain customers' trust, which suffered after its giveaway gift bags were found to contain formaldehyde, a class 1 carcinogen. His predecessor was criticized for not taking immediate action and for letting the problem grow out of hand, with some customers boycotting Starbucks products.
The company then made an official apology and promised to prevent similar mistakes while conducting an internal investigation. Song was accused of violating the Framework Act on Consumers.
Starbucks was also involved in another incident where customers complained about its paper straws smelling like gasoline. The coffeehouse chain decided to recall the straws in May.
"Through this personnel reshuffle, we went carefully through candidates and appointed the best person to lead the company's future growth and further strengthen our core competitiveness," a Shinsegae Group official said.
New CEO Sohn graduated from Korea University and obtained his MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He joined SK Telecom in 2007 and served as the team leader of SK Holdings' Seoul and Singapore offices. He moved to Shinsegae I&C in 2015 where he became CEO in 2020 after serving as executive director of Shinsegae I&C's IT business.
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| Starbucks Korea CEO Sohn Jeong-hyun |
Sohn is facing a range of daunting tasks left by his scandal-hit predecessor, as he needs to improve the coffee chain's tarnished brand image and strengthen its competitiveness amid intensifying competition and soaring ingredient costs. Song was initially contracted to lead Starbucks Korea until 2025, but he was sacked three years early due to a series of blunders over the past year.
The new CEO's top priority is to regain customers' trust, which suffered after its giveaway gift bags were found to contain formaldehyde, a class 1 carcinogen. His predecessor was criticized for not taking immediate action and for letting the problem grow out of hand, with some customers boycotting Starbucks products.
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| Former Starbucks Korea CEO Song Ho-seop |
Starbucks was also involved in another incident where customers complained about its paper straws smelling like gasoline. The coffeehouse chain decided to recall the straws in May.
"Through this personnel reshuffle, we went carefully through candidates and appointed the best person to lead the company's future growth and further strengthen our core competitiveness," a Shinsegae Group official said.
New CEO Sohn graduated from Korea University and obtained his MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He joined SK Telecom in 2007 and served as the team leader of SK Holdings' Seoul and Singapore offices. He moved to Shinsegae I&C in 2015 where he became CEO in 2020 after serving as executive director of Shinsegae I&C's IT business.
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