Coupang, Korea’s leading online retailer, today announced it has appointed Kim Ki-ryung, one of the most renowned human resources strategists in Korea, as its new vice president in charge of leading the Company’s HR Center of Excellence (CoE). Kim adds over 20 years of executive HR experience as the previous head of HR for a major Korean conglomerate and former CEO of numerous global HR consultancies, including Mercer Korea, Hay Group Korea, Aon Korea, and Towers Watson Korea. He is uniquely qualified to run the CoE and is the latest example of Coupang’s ability to attract world-class talent.
Prior to joining Coupang, Kim served as the Managing Director of Human Resources Planning at Pulmuone Foods Co. where he oversaw various areas such as HR Management (HRM), HR Development (HRD), Employee Relations (ER), and Diversity and Inclusion (D&I). He also architected the Gender Equality Center, which was recognized by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the Ministry of Employment and Labor for advocating family values and gender equality in business.
Before Pulmuone, Kim served as CEOs of all four Korean branches of major global HR consulting firms, including Mercer Korea, Hay Group Korea, Aon Korea and Towers Watson Korea. As CEO of Mercer Korea, he grew the company into the best-in-class consulting firm in the market, and at Towers Watson Korea, he worked on post-merger integration to help employees feel unified after Towers Perrin Korea and Watson Wyatt Worldwide Korea’s physical integration.
At Coupang, Kim plans to focus on establishing the HR management strategies needed to facilitate the Company’s aggressive growth while continuing to meet the corporate vision of consistently wowing Customers.
“I’m very pleased to join Coupang on its journey of growth and innovation,” said Kim. “Talents with diverse experience and skill sets from all around the world work together at Coupang and push to build innovation for Customers every day. I will commit to building a strong system and environment which can provide differentiated experiences to employees and help them further develop their competencies.”
Kim graduated from Korea University with an undergraduate degree in Education and received a graduate degree and a doctorate in Educational Psychology from the State University of New York.
