[THE INVESTOR] Lim Hyong-seok, who has over 23 years of management consulting and operational experience at LG Electronics and McKinsey, has been appointed as managing director of KKR’s private equity investment team in Korea, the company said on Aug. 30.

Formally taking office in November, Lim will be in charge of discovering new investment opportunities in Korea along with Park Chung-ho, a director at KKR Korea.

The announcement comes as the global private equity firm expands leadership teams in the Asia-Pacific region, including China and Singapore.
“The addition of new senior investment talent was carried out as South Korea is a core market for KKR,” said Joseph Bae, managing partner of KKR Asia in a press release.

The company expects that Lim and Park would expand business opportunities through building partnership and making investments in Korean companies that have potential, he said.

Previously, Lim worked at McKinsey & Co. for 15 years where he was a partner at its Seoul office.

More recently, he founded Compass LKL in London, an advisory firm focused on providing cross border investment solutions for Korean investors and companies.

In June, KKR signed a binding memorandum of understanding with South Korean retail group Eland to buy the group’s hypermarket chain Kim’s Club. The US-based private equity fund also bought a controlling stake in the country’s mobile commerce company Ticket Monster for $782 million in 2015.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)