Korea’s CJ ENM names CEO to lead ‘global expansion & accelerate growth’

Wolf Like Me

South Korea’s CJ ENM has restructured its entertainment team as the company expands its “plans for global expansion”, with Chang-Gun Koo becoming CEO.

Koo will now lead CJ ENM’s entertainment division and replaces Ho-sung Kang, who moves to become co-CEO at subsidiary CJ Group.

Chang-Gun Koo

The new CEO’s remit includes oversight of CJ ENM’s strategy to “accelerate future growth engines to lead a new paradigm in the entertainment industry.”

Koo joined from Samsung in 2010 and has held roles across the CJ Group, including CEO of global food service CJ Foodville. He followed that by being named CEO of the conglomerate’s health and beauty store, CJ Oliveyoung.

His appointment comes amid an ongoing global push by CJ ENM, which last month landed former Fox Corporation exec Steve W. Chung to work across its expansion from his base in LA.

The Seoul-based media giant has also been reshuffling its global operations recently. It sold Nordic distributor Eccho Rights this summer following three years of ownership and completed its $785m deal to acquire a majority stake in Endeavor Content in 2021, handing it shows such as Nicole Kidman’s Roar for Apple TV+ and Wolf Like Me for Peacock.

CJ ENM has dabbled in US firms for decades, with investments in Skydance Media and DreamWorks, but its latest push suggests a more concrete strategy shift. The company is also rolling out its OTT platform, TVING, and last summer said it would invest more than ₩5tn ($4.5bn) in content creation over the next five years to fuel global growth.