GM Korea CEO to quit to focus on AMCHAM role

SEOUL, July 3 (Yonhap) -- James Kim, who has managed South Korean operations of General Motors Co. for the past two years, will quit the position next month to take on an greater role with a U.S. business lobby group in South Korea, GM Korea Co. said Monday.

Kim, 55, will resign as president and CEO of GM Korea on Aug. 31 to better serve as chairman and CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea (AMCHAM), the carmaker said in a statement.

"He has been a tireless promoter of our company. Jim has driven domestic sales, helped build equity of our brands, and reached out to our customers in new and innovative ways," GM Executive Vice President and President of GM International Stefan Jacoby, said in the statement.

His successor will be named "at a later date," it said without elaborating.

The leadership change announcement comes on the same day the country's five carmakers released their sales results for the previous month.

On Monday, GM Korea released poor sales results for June and the January-June period due to lower demand for its mainstay Malibu sedans.

Its overall sales fell 21 percent year-over-year to 43,692 units last month from 55,077 units a year earlier. In the first six months, sales declined 9.3 percent to 278,998 autos from 307,512 units in the year-ago period, the company's sales data showed.

Kim joined GM Korea in June 2015 as chief operating officer and was promoted to CEO in January 2016. He will serve as an advisor to GM Korea from Sept. 1 this year, the statement said.

The New York native formerly served as chief of Microsoft Korea, Overture Korea and Yahoo! Korea since 2005.

kyongae.choi@yna.co.kr
(END)