'First Female CEO in Distribution Industry' Lim Ilsun, Homeplus Representative, Steps Down

First Female CEO in the Distribution Industry
Experienced Professional in Distribution and Finance
Converted 15,000 Fixed-Term Contract Workers to Permanent Employees
Shifted Mart Management to Online Focus
Faced Crisis Including REITs Listing Failure

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] "Leaving behind the difficult past year, I believe that the year 2021, the Year of the Ox, which we are newly welcoming, will be a year of hope and joy for all of us."

This is part of an internal message sent by Lim Il-soon, CEO and President of Homeplus (pictured), to Homeplus employees on the 8th, when news of her resignation became known. Until the moment of her departure, she focused on expressing gratitude and encouragement rather than personal reflections. Lim is the first female CEO appointed in the conservative retail industry, breaking the 'glass ceiling.' With extensive experience in finance and retail, she led various changes to adapt to the rapidly changing retail environment and gained attention for her win-win approach, including leading the conversion of about 15,000 non-regular contract store employees to regular positions.

According to related industries on the 10th, Lim had expressed her intention to step down as CEO and President of Homeplus for personal reasons since the second half of last year, and the company recently accepted this. The exact resignation date has not been disclosed but is expected to take place in mid-month.

Homeplus stated, "The resignation date of CEO Lim has been adjusted to coincide with the final approval date of the 2021 fiscal year (March 2021 to February 2022) business strategy," adding, "There will be no management vacuum in executing the completed 2021 business strategy centered on each business division head."

Lim is the first female CEO in the retail industry and the first person outside of owner families in the domestic retail sector to break the 'invisible wall.' Having worked at Motorola, Compaq Korea, Costco, By The Way, and Australia's XGO Group, she was recruited as Vice President and CFO of Homeplus in November 2015. She served as Senior Vice President and COO of the management support division in May 2017 and was promoted to CEO and President in October of the same year.

During her tenure, Lim led changes from multiple perspectives. In July 2019, she made a groundbreaking move by converting all approximately 15,000 non-regular contract employees of Homeplus to regular employees and played a leading role in transforming Homeplus, which was offline-centered, into an 'All-Line' business model integrated with online. In particular, she converted all offline stores into online logistics hubs and established fulfillment centers in some regions within offline stores to respond to online demand.

Although she pursued various management changes, she also faced crises. In March 2019, Homeplus planned to raise 1.7 trillion KRW through a REIT based on 51 stores but eventually withdrew the listing due to low investor participation. She also expressed difficulties in the regulatory environment that made it challenging to promote online-based services such as dawn delivery, given that logistics centers were operated based on stores. Despite efforts for labor-management coexistence, discord with the labor union continued.

The following is the full text of the internal message sent by CEO Lim Il-soon to employees:

Dear Homeplus family,

I extend my deep gratitude to all employees who are starting the vibrant new year at each of our business sites. Leaving behind the difficult past year, I believe that the year 2021, the Year of the Ox, which we are newly welcoming, will be a year of hope and joy for all of us.

Today, I inform you that I have decided to conclude my time at Homeplus after 5 years and 2 months for personal reasons and to step down from the position of CEO and President. Several months ago, I expressed my intention to retire to the company, and I will continue working until mid-next week. The company is currently proceeding smoothly with the selection process for my successor, which will be completed well.

It is by no means easy to express my feelings about leaving the precious and valuable time spent with all of you. I will make efforts to meet and greet many of you face-to-face before my departure in the coming days, and I will also send my regards in writing to everyone once again later.

The cold weather continues. Please take good care of your health and make time to care for one another. Thank you.

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