Top 100 Companies Surpass 5% Female Executives for the First Time... Samsung Electronics Leads with 1 in 6 Executives Female

Samsung Electronics Produces 65 Employees, Accounting for 16.3% of the Total

Lee Boo-jin, President of Hotel Shilla, attending the shareholders' meeting on March 11, 2020, and striking the gavel. (Photo by Asia Economy DB)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The proportion of female executives working at the top 100 domestic companies has surpassed 5% for the first time.

On the 10th, global headhunting specialist Unico Search analyzed the executive status of the top 100 domestic companies by sales and found that the number of female executives (excluding outside directors) at these companies totaled 399 this year. This accounts for 5.6% of the total 7,157 executives, marking the first time the female executive ratio has exceeded 5%. Compared to 322 last year, this is an increase of 77 (23.9%) in one year.

By company, Samsung Electronics had the highest number with 65 female executives, accounting for 16.3% of all female executives. They were followed by CJ CheilJedang (30), NAVER (23), Hyundai Motor (18), Lotte Shopping (15), Amorepacific (14), Samsung SDS (13), LG Electronics, KT, and LG Chem (each 10). Among companies with more than 10 female executives, CJ CheilJedang had the highest female executive ratio relative to its total executives at 26.1%.

Choi Soo-yeon, CEO of Naver, conducting the 'Naver Meetup'. (Photo by Naver)

The number of female executives serving as inside directors on the board remains low. Only five women held such positions: Lee Boo-jin, President of Hotel Shilla; Choi Soo-yeon, CEO of NAVER; Chae Sun-joo, Head of NAVER’s External & ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) Policy; Kim So-young, inside director of CJ CheilJedang; and Lim Sang-min, Executive Director of Daesang. Among them, only CEO Choi was a board member not from an owner family.

Unico Search expects the number of female executives to increase significantly due to the amended Capital Market Act, which takes effect this month. The law mandates that listed companies with assets exceeding 2 trillion won must appoint at least one female executive to their board. Kim Hye-yang, CEO of Unico Search, said, "The law has been fully enforced since this month, and with the strong wave of ESG management, the trend of increasing female executives is becoming a societal norm. Recently, corporate cultures that select executives based on ability regardless of age, gender, or career have strengthened, so we expect more cases of female executive promotions."

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