On Feb. 1, LG Group’s catering unit Ourhome appointed Koo Ji-eun as its vice president.

Ji-eun is the youngest daughter of Koo Cha-hak, chairman of Ourhome and son of the late LG Group founder Koo In-hoe. She joined the company in 2004 and took 11 years to climb the management ladder to the top level.

But her appointment means more than the ascent of another chaebol scion. She is the first female from the LG founding family to emerge in the top management.

The Koo family has been rather uninvolved in the management of group companies. Apart from LG Group chairman Koo Bon-moo and his younger brother and LG vice chairman Koo Bon-joon, the majority of LG affiliates are led by professional managers. And even among the handful who have joined the management, all are men, especially the eldest sons. 

“Based on the Confucian ethos, the eldest son of the Koo clan has always inherited power. If they don’t have a son, they adopt one for inheritance,” a business insider said. LG chairman Koo Bon-moo, who has two daughters, has adopted his nephew Kwang-mo to take over the empire.

According to the vernacular JoongAng Ilbo newspaper, women of the Koo family have always kept a low profile. It noted that the patriarchs of the family have even scolded some who “make noise while playing golf at the LG-owned Konjiam Country Club in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province.”

“The LG family has been ultraconservative when it comes to gender roles,” another source said. “It seems that Ji-eun is writing a new chapter in LG’s history.”

Many company officials say she has earned her place. While her siblings have never involved themselves in LG management, Ji-eun has led several successful projects.

She is credited for leading the company’s food ingredient wholesales department to double-digit growth rates for two consecutive years, establishing a website for the food supply network, and opening a logistics center in South Jeolla Province.

She is also hailed for expanding the company’s business portfolio from catering to restaurants. From high-end diners ― Kisara, Xingkai, Sonsuheon and Moomba ― to casual restaurants ― Saboten, Main Dish, Yakistar and others ― around 50 brands have been orchestrated by her. Outhome has opened its brand-cluster “Food Empire” at major shopping malls in Seoul and marked success.

The company posted 1.3 trillion won in sales ($1.1 billion) in 2014, a huge jump from 500 billion won in 2004.

“Ji-eun is known for her passion and hands-on approach toward the operation. But she is also known to be very charismatic and shrewd when it comes to evaluating the outcome. She is a natural. Chairman Koo Cha-hak has high hopes for her,” a company official said.

“Since there are more projects in the pipeline ― Outhome has recently relaunched Americanized Mexican restaurant Tacobell and is planning to start several more brands overseas, including the promising Chinese market ― Ji-eun may well have a brighter future,” he added.

Some suggest that the reason she could scale the ladder is because of her mother, who is from the Samsung Group family ― Lee Suk-hee, daughter of Samsung Group founder Lee Byung-chull and older sister of Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee.

“As you can see from Lee Kun-hee’s daughters ― Hotel Shilla president Lee Boo-jin and Cheil Industries president Lee Seo-hyun ― Samsung has long allowed daughters to join the management as long as they are talented. Lee Suk-hee appears to have influenced her daughter’s upbringing,” the insider said.

Some observers suggest that Ji-eun may take over the company one day, like her cousins who have already solidified their status in business circles. Because she makes a rare case of being the descendant of two of the most powerful business conglomerates in the country, competition between the cousins from LG and Samsung in the food industry could boost the sector, pundits forecast.

However, before that, she will need to take care of sibling matters. Though her brothers and sister have shied away from joining the management, they are known to hold more company stakes than Ji-eun.

For instance, her eldest brother Bon-sung is known to hold 38 percent stake as against her around 21 percent. In order to solidify control and set the rules, holding the largest share will be necessary, analysts said.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)