Dong-A Socio Group’s management rights have been passed down to the third generation of its founding family, with Kang Jung-seok, grandson of Dong-A Pharmaceutical’s founder Kang Joog-hee, promoted to become the group’s chairman in January.

Kang Jung-seok’s father, Kang Shin-ho, who had been running the company for the past 35 years, stepped down from his position as chairman and became the honorary president.

Kang Shin-ho, the eldest son of the group’s founder, was the one who enabled Dong-A Pharmaceutical to become the No. 1 in the industry by developing the Bacchus drink in 1961. It was named after the Greek god of wine and harvest. Kang was inspired by a plaster figure of Bacchus that he had seen at the underground hall of Hamburg City Hall when he was studying in Germany during the 1950s, after graduating from Seoul National University’s College of Medicine.

Kang Shin-ho was also behind the naming of other Dong-A Pharmaceutical products, such as Zydena and Circulan. In 1977, he was also the first to establish a company laying research lab that led to the development of the natural medicine Styrene.

The group, encompassing Dong-A Pharmaceutical and its subsidiaries, switched its name to Dong-A Socio in 1994. The Latin word for society, “socio,” was added to emphasize the group’s willingness to fulfill its corporate social responsibilities.

Current Chairman Kang Jung-seok, Kang Shin-ho’s fourth son, graduated from Chungang University as an undergraduate in philosophy and received a master’s degree in pharmaceutical sciences from Sungkyunkwan University. He started working at Dong-A Pharmaceutical in 1989, undertaking roles such as chief of the general management team and director of the medical business sector. He was chosen as the successor of the group after successfully leading the group’s change into a holding company system while serving as the president of Dong-A Group’s subsidiary, Dong-A Socio Holdings.

The fact that the fourth son, instead of his elder brothers, could succeed the family business highlights how Dong-A Group makes capabilities a priority.

Kang Shin-ho’s second son, former Dong-A Pharmaceutical President Kang Moon-seok, was to succeed the company in the early 2000s. After completing his undergraduate studies in industrial engineering at Seoul National University, he received a master’s in engineering from Stanford and a Masters of Business Administration from Harvard.

Kang Moon-seok started to take management courses after he entered the company in 1987, and served as the president of Dong-A Pharmaceutical for two years starting from 2013. However, the management was handed over to Kang Jung-seok as Kang Moon-seok was held responsible for rival Kwang Dong Pharm’s Vita 500 overtaking Bacchus in the market during the early 2000s.

Kang Jung-seok became the vice-chairman of Dong-A Socio Holdings in 2015, and was promoted as the group’s chairman in January. He owns a 26.74 percent share of Dong-A Socio Holdings, 0.33 percent of Dong-A ST, and 15.25 percent of ST Pharm.

The succession began last November with young managers promoted to become heads of the group’s subsidiaries. Mathew J. Han became the president of Dong-A Socio Holdings, President Min Jang-seong became CEO of Dong-A ST and President Choi Ho-jin became CEO of Dong-A Pharmaceutical.

Managers of a similar age as Kang Jung-seok were said to be promoted to help the new chairman create a young organization culture. Kang Jung-seok is known for his friendly leadership skills built through years of interacting with young employees in the field while he was working at Dong-A Pharmaceutical. Since his appointment, he has been focusing on the group’s core businesses, Dong-A Pharmaceutical and Dong-A ST, to increase sales through the development of new medicine.

“Another golden age will be led by a new innovative medicine dubbed ‘the second Bacchus,’” said Kang Jung-seok. 

By The Superich Team

Min Sang-seek
Yoon Hyun-jong
Yim Ji-min (jiminy@heraldcorp.com)