This photo captured from Instagram, shows Shinsegae Group Vice Chairman Chung Yong-jin’s post with the caption “I’m memorizing names of members with BTS cards.”
SEOUL, Jan. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — Heads of large companies are going beyond tradition to post personal remarks on their personal social media accounts.
One of Shinsegae Group Vice Chairman Chung Yong-jin’s social media accounts is currently followed by 736,000 people.
Chung posts photos of his everyday life, playing golf, cooking or introducing new products from subsidiary companies.
Park Yong-man, former head of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, is also one of several business figures who actively communicate through social media.
SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won became the newest member of the social media club after he opened up a personal Instagram account.
Conglomerate leaders joining the social sphere are being met by positive responses since followers can take a sneak-peak into the lives of successful businesspeople, and get to know about various company activities.
Others, however, believe that the personal use of social media may raise the risk of sparking controversy, which may undermine corporate management.
In fact, Chung Yong-jin has been expressing hatred towards communism on Instagram since late last year, sparking heated controversy.
“Social media is both influential and risky,” said Seo Yong-gu, a professor of business administration at Sookmyung Women’s University.
“Public figures need to be more responsible when they communicate through their social media accounts, since it may impact their corporate image.”
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
