Shinsegae Department Store president Chung Yoo-kyung has made her first public appearance on Thursday since her joining the company in 1996, heralding more active business engagement from the niece of the powerful Samsung Group Lee family.

In April this year, she signed a stock swap deal with her brother Yong-jin, vice chairman of Shinsegae Group, solidifying her managerial position in the department store business. Following the stock exchange, her stake in the department store rose to 9.83 percent from a 2.51 percent stake. The two are children of Lee Myung-hee, chairwoman of Korea’s leading retail conglomerate Shinsegae Group and sister of Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-hee.

Unlike her brother now controlling E-Mart, Chung had remained media shy until a ceremony was held to open another shopping mall in Daegu on Thursday.

She cut the ribbon together with Daegu City Mayor Kwon Young-jin during the event, where she told journalists that she hoped the new Daegu Shinsegae would play a key role in revitalizing the region’s economy.

After the opening ceremony, she looked around the shopping mall with her management team, finishing her morning schedule. Daegu Shinsegae signifies the completion of the company’s six major projects conducted this year, which include expansion of Shinsegae’s Gangnam branch in February, and the opening of additional department stores and duty-free shops across the country through the year.

She is said to be very attached to Daegu Shinsegae, which sits on 338,000 square meters with nine floors above ground and seven floors underground in Shincheon-dong, Daegu. A select shop to sell cosmetics products of about 220 local and foreign brands inside the department store is her brainchild. Consumers can access most of popular foreign brands here, otherwise they had to buy at overseas e-commerce sites in person. The location of the new department store has a special meaning for Shinsegae as it was home for Samsung Store, the origin of today’s Samsung Group.

Chung is a year older than her cousin Lee Seo-hyun, the second daughter of Lee Kun-hee who runs the fashion division of Samsung Group.

By Choi Seung-jin

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]