ThinkBig Returns to the Forefront... Woongjin's New Leap Forward

About half of the affiliates are in education, publishing, and IT sectors
Kim Jeonghyun appointed as Inside Director of Woongjin ThinkBig's Book Division
Establishment of (Ju) Noriui Balgyeon, a new company for Kids Platform Business Division spin-off

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daeseop] Woongjin Group has officially started a new leap forward. Replacing Coway, which had led the group so far, Woongjin ThinkBig is taking on the role of the eldest sibling and is securing new growth engines for sustainable growth.

According to Woongjin Group on the 30th, a shareholders' meeting was held at the headquarters in Jongno, Seoul on the 27th, where the agenda to appoint Kim Jeonghyun, Head of the Book Division at Woongjin ThinkBig (Executive Director), as an inside director of Woongjin Co., Ltd. was approved. Appointing a key executive from the affiliate Woongjin ThinkBig as an inside director of the holding company Woongjin Co., Ltd. is interpreted as a move to strengthen group management centered on Woongjin ThinkBig.

At the end of last year, game company Netmarble acquired Coway (then Woongjin Coway), the largest core affiliate within Woongjin Group, making Woongjin ThinkBig the eldest sibling of the group. According to Woongjin Group's consolidated financial statements for last year, sales amounted to 819.9 billion KRW. Woongjin ThinkBig's sales were 652.2 billion KRW, accounting for 80% of the total.

Earlier, Woongjin ThinkBig also approved an agenda at the shareholders' meeting held on the 24th to split off the Kids Platform business division and establish a new company. The newly established company, Noriui Balgyeon Co., Ltd., scheduled to be founded in May this year, will operate the Kids Platform business division. This reflects a high expectation of new growth potential for the mobile platform "Noriui Balgyeon" launched in April last year.

With the sale of Coway, the home appliance business, a core engine for sustainable growth, has come to a halt. Now, it is necessary to strengthen the education, publishing, and information technology (IT) businesses to create new growth engines. For Woongjin Group's sustainable growth, it is also important to expand Woongjin ThinkBig's competitive elements throughout the group's management.

The starting point of Woongjin Group was "Haim International Publishing," established in 1980, which is the predecessor of Woongjin ThinkBig. Founded in 1980, Woongjin Group currently owns eight affiliates including Woongjin ThinkBig, Woongjin Booksen, and Woongjin Compass. About half of the affiliates are in the education, publishing, and IT business sectors. The appointment of Executive Director Kim Jeonghyun from Woongjin ThinkBig as an inside director of Woongjin is not unrelated to this.

Executive Director Kim was born in 1970, graduated from Chung-Ang University with a degree in Journalism and Broadcasting, worked as a reporter in the social affairs department at YTN, and moved to Woongjin ThinkBig in 2013, where he served as Head of Management Planning and Head of the Book Division.

A Woongjin Group official said, "Executive Director Kim demonstrated the capability to respond to market changes when he was appointed as Head of the Book Division at Woongjin ThinkBig, and based on this, we judged that he is the right person to play an excellent role as an inside director in the rapidly changing management environment of the company in the future."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.