Chairman Yoon Dong-han Makes Comeback to 'Rescue Korea Kolmar'

Return to Management as Chairman
After 2 Years and 3 Months Since Retirement

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] Yoon Dong-han, Chairman of the Seoul Yeohae Foundation (pictured), has officially returned to management as Chairman of Korea Kolmar Holdings. This comes 2 years and 3 months after stepping down from frontline management in August 2019 after 30 years.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on the 16th, Korea Kolmar Holdings announced in its quarterly report the previous day that "Chairman Yoon Dong-han was appointed as an unregistered executive as of the 15th." This reflects the voices of employees and shareholders who believe that strong leadership from the founder, who has led growth, is necessary amid the current crisis across the group. Korea Kolmar recorded an operating profit of 12.7 billion KRW in the third quarter this year, down 32.3% from 18.9 billion KRW in the same period last year. During the same period, sales increased by 18.4% to 376 billion KRW, but net profit plunged 56.9% to 6.9 billion KRW. Korea Kolmar Holdings saw its third-quarter sales decrease by 11.6% to 144.1 billion KRW, and operating profit fell 62.0% to 13.6 billion KRW.

Chairman Yoon will serve as chairman and unregistered executive of Korea Kolmar Holdings, the holding company overseeing the group’s affiliates. As the founder and group chairman, Yoon plans to focus on discovering future growth engines across affiliates and supporting global business based on his extensive experience. Major affiliates including Korea Kolmar will maintain their existing board of directors and professional management systems.

Born in 1947, Chairman Yoon founded Korea Kolmar in 1990 at the age of 43 after 20 years of working experience, entering the cosmetics business. He was the first in the domestic cosmetics industry to introduce the Original Design Manufacturing (ODM) method, which was mostly dominated by Original Equipment Manufacturing (OEM), growing the company into a leading enterprise with expected sales of 2 trillion KRW.

As chairman of the Seoul Yeohae Foundation, Yoon continues leadership education based on Admiral Yi Sun-sin. He established the foundation together with Yi Sun-sin researcher Kim Jong-dae, former Constitutional Court Justice.

A Korea Kolmar official said, "In the difficult management environment, there were strong voices from employees and shareholders wanting the founder’s return. We expect that based on his long experience and expertise in turning crises into opportunities since founding the company, he will lead Korea Kolmar’s new leap forward."

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