[News Figures] 'First Foreign CEO' Lee Woo-hyun, OCI Chairman

Born in the USA in 1968, Recently Lost Korean Nationality
Fair Trade Commission Conducts First Nationality Investigation of Corporate Group's Identical Person

OCI Vice Chairman Lee Woo-hyun has been appointed as the chairman of OCI Holdings, which will be launched on May 2. This marks the full transition of the holding company to the third-generation management under Chairman Lee Woo-hyun. He also became the first foreign national designated as the same person (head) of a major domestic conglomerate.

OCI announced on the 25th that the board of directors held at its headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, resolved the agenda to appoint Vice Chairman Lee Woo-hyun as chairman of OCI Holdings. Chairman Lee officially received the title of chairman five years after being designated as the same person (head) of OCI by the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) in 2018.

Chairman Lee said, "OCI is currently facing the biggest changes and challenges since its founding," adding, "We will create a company that pursues sustainable development without complacency, and I will lead the journey toward greater leaps with a heavy sense of responsibility."

Lee Woo-hyun, Chairman of OCI Holdings. Photo by OCI

Amid Chairman Lee’s appointment as chairman of OCI Holdings, it was belatedly confirmed that his nationality is American. Born in the United States in 1968, Vice Chairman Lee has long held dual citizenship but is recently reported to have lost his Korean nationality.

According to the business community on the 26th, the KFTC disclosed the results of the '2023 Designation of Publicly Announced Business Groups' the day before (the 25th). Under the Fair Trade Act, the KFTC annually designates business groups with total assets of 5 trillion won or more as publicly announced business groups, and those with 10 trillion won or more as mutually invested restricted business groups by May 1.

A notable point in the announcement was the investigation of the nationality status of the same person and others in business groups. For the first time this year, the KFTC officially surveyed the nationality status of the same person, spouse, and second-generation same person of business groups.

It was found that seven groups have heads whose spouses hold foreign nationality, and 16 groups (31 individuals) have second-generation heads holding foreign or dual nationality. However, the KFTC stated that this information is considered personal data and is not subject to public disclosure. The KFTC said, "With the emergence of business groups controlled by Korean foreigners and the confirmation of many second-generation heads with foreign nationality including dual citizenship, it is necessary to establish criteria for designating foreign nationals as the same person."

Chairman Lee is the grandson of the late Lee Hoe-rim, founder of Dongyang Steel Chemical. He is the eldest son of former OCI Chairman Lee Soo-young and Kim Kyung-ja, director of the Songam Cultural Foundation. After the passing of his father Lee Soo-young, he has led the OCI Group since 2018. He graduated from Sogang University with a degree in Chemical Engineering and earned a master's degree in Business Administration with a focus on finance and marketing from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He joined OCI in 2005 and served in the Strategic Planning Headquarters, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), and president before being appointed vice chairman of OCI in March 2019.

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