Why did Shinsegae chairman clean up his Instagram account? 신세계회장 인스타그램 계정정리

[김우정]

지난 수요일 신세계 정용진회장이 그동안 게시되었된 수백장의 콘텐츠를 식제했습니다.
그는 팔로워가 843,000명인 보기드문 기업인 입니다.
2018년 320,000원이던 이마트의 주가는 68,300원으로 하락했습니다.
작년에 469억원의 영업손실을 기록한 이마트에 필요한 경영자는 인기있는 불로거보다는
쿠팡, 알리, 테무에 효과적으로 대응할 수 있는 CEO 일 것입니다.
 
Why did Shinsegae chairman clean up his Instagram account?
신세계회장은 왜 인스타그램 계정을 정리했을까?

By Ko Dong-hwan 고동환 기자
Posted : 2024-03-28 16:39 Updated : 2024-03-28 18:07
Korea Times

Shinsegae Group Chairman Chung Yong-jin's Instagram account shows it has 23 posts, Thursday. The site used to share hundreds of photos and videos through which Chung shared his personal life and thoughts for years. Screen capture from Instagram 목요일, 정용진 신세계그룹 회장의 인스타그램 계정에는 23개의 게시물이 올라와 있다. 이 사이트는 정 회장이 수년간 자신의 사생활과 생각을 공유한 사진과 동영상 수백 개를 공유하곤 했다. 인스타그램 화면 캡처

Shinsegae Group Chairman Chung Yong-jin's Instagram posts, which have been drawing public attention for years due to his unfiltered remarks and sharing of his personal life, have been almost completely deleted, raising questions as to the sudden change of stance regarding his social media, which comprises over 843,000 followers, according to industry observers, Thursday.
정용진 신세계그룹 회장의 인스타그램 게시물이 거의 완전히 삭제돼 843,000여 명의 팔로워를 보유한 그의 소셜미디어에 대한 갑작스러운 입장 변화에 대한 의문이 제기되고 있다고 업계 관계자들이 목요일 밝혔다.

Chung's Instagram, which used to host hundreds of photos and videos, was completely cleared of such content on Wednesday. The following day, Chung's Instagram showed he reposted 12 photos that had already been posted previously. But none of them were as controversial as past posts. Instead, the posts were more mundane in nature such as how he spends time outside of work: cooking, visiting restaurants, buying Lego and hanging out with friends and family members.
수요일, 수백 장의 사진과 동영상을 게시하던 정씨의 인스타그램은 이 같은 내용이 완전히 삭제됐다. 다음 날 정 씨의 인스타그램에는 정 씨가 이전에 게시했던 12장의 사진을 다시 게시한 것으로 나타났다. 하지만 과거 게시물만큼 논란이 된 것은 없었다. 대신 일과 외 시간을 보내는 방법, 요리하기, 식당 방문하기, 레고사기, 친구 및 가족과 어울리는 방법 등이 게시물은 일상적이었다.

Known as the most popular influencer among the country's business leaders, Chung said on his "refreshed" Instagram, "I'm not reading any direct message. Don't waste your time." The webpage also showed an upside-down Korean word "myulgong," meaning eradicate communists, which he posted on Instagram in 2022 stirring the public's reaction for allegedly criticizing China. He later said on the social media network that the post was directed at North Korea.
그 나라의 사업 지도자들 사이에서 가장 인기 있는 인플루언서로 알려진, 정현은 그의 "refreshed" 인스타그램에 "나는 어떤 직접적인 메시지도 읽지 않는다. 시간을 낭비하지 마세요."라고 말했다. 그 웹페이지는 또한 공산주의자들을 근절한다는 의미의 거꾸로 된 한국어 "멸공"을 보여주었는데, 그가 2022년에 인스타그램에 게시한 것은 중국을 비난했다는 주장으로 대중의 반응을 불러일으켰다. 그는 나중에 소셜 미디어 네트워크에 그 게시물이 북한을 향한 것이라고 말했다.

Chung's Instagram change came after the heir apparent was promoted from the group's vice-chairman to chairman on March 8. Industry watchers speculated that the chairman cleansed his social media to reduce attention around his Instagram account and focus more on managing his retail conglomerate.
정 회장의 인스타그램 변화는 3월 8일 정 회장이 부회장에서 회장으로 승진한 이후에 이루어졌다. 업계 관측통들은 정 회장이 자신의 인스타그램 계정에 대한 관심을 줄이고 유통대기업 관리에 더 집중하기 위해 자신의 소셜 미디어를 청소했다고 추측했다.

"The group right now needs some innovative changes and growth," a retail industry official said. "It's pretty clear the Shinsegae chairman deleted those Instagram photos to concentrate on those goals."
한 유통업계 관계자는 "현재 그룹은 혁신적인 변화와 성장이 필요하다"며 "신세계회장이 이러한 목표에 집중하기 위해 인스타그램 사진을 삭제한 것은 분명하다"고 말했다

The speculation derives from E-mart, a Shinsegae subsidiary and the country's biggest large-size discount store chain that last year registered an operating loss of 46.9 billion won ($350,000), the first operating loss since 2011. Despite its highest-ever sales last year, E-mart saw a deficit as Shinsegae E&C, the construction arm of E-mart, struggled last year due to rising costs.
이 같은 추측은 신세계 계열사이자 국내 최대 대형 할인점 체인인 이마트가 지난해 469억원의 영업손실을 기록해 2011년 이후 처음으로 영업손실을 기록한 데서 비롯됐다. 이마트는 지난해 사상 최대 매출을 기록했음에도 불구하고 이마트의 건설부문인 신세계건설이 지난해 원가 상승으로 고전하면서 적자를 기록했다.

Then-Shinsegae Group Vice Chairman Chung Yong-jin sits on Pacific Compagnie's Armchair Savannah in this Instagram photo from Feb. 1. He said he had bought the chair and intrigued his followers by prompting them to guess how much it cost. It was one of 30 limited copies and it cost 14,900 euros. The photo has since been deleted from his Instagram. Screen capture from Instagram 정용진 당시 신세계 그룹 부회장은 2월 1일에 찍은 이 인스타그램 사진에서 퍼시픽 컴파니의 암체어 사바나(Savannah)에 앉아 있다. 그는 그 의자를 샀다고 말했고 추종자들에게 가격이 얼마인지 추측하도록 유도함으로써 그들의 흥미를 유발했다. 그것은 30개의 한정판 중 하나였으며 가격은 14,900유로였습니다. 그 사진은 그 이후로 그의 인스타그램에서 삭제되었다. 인스타그램 화면 캡처

The speculations also came as E-mart is being challenged by major online shopping platforms that have been leading the country's new shopping trend since COVID-19. Not only did Coupang, the country's biggest online shopping outlet, start to outsell E-mart in January, but Chinese online platforms including AliExpress and Temu are increasingly becoming popular in the country as they offer competitive prices.
이마트가 코로나19 이후 국내 새로운 쇼핑 트렌드를 주도해온 주요 온라인 쇼핑 플랫폼들로부터 도전을 받고 있는 가운데 나온 추측이기도 하다. 국내 최대 온라인 쇼핑 아울렛인 쿠팡이 1월부터 이마트를 앞지르기 시작했을 뿐만 아니라 알리익스프레스, 테무 등 중국 온라인 플랫폼들이 경쟁력 있는 가격을 제시하면서 국내에서 점점 인기를 끌고 있다.

Chung's promotion came amid such challenges to E-mart's position. A Shinsegae official said the promotion is the group's move to reinforce its internal consolidation in the face of ever-growing threats by retail competitors. The official added Chung's strong leadership will help the group break through the unfavorable management situation.
정회장의 승진은 이마트의 위치에 대한 그러한 도전들 중에 이루어졌다. 한 신세계 관계자는 그 승진은 소매 경쟁자들에 의해 계속 증가하는 위협에 직면하여 내부 통합을 강화하려는 그 그룹의 움직임이라고 말했다. 그 관계자는 정 회장의 강력한 리더십이 그룹이 불리한 경영상황을 돌파하도록 도울 것이라고 덧붙였다.

Following his promotion, Chung started accepting voluntary resignations from E-mart employees with at least 15 years of working experience under the company. It was the first time E-mart sought voluntary resignations to downsize itself. This caused anger among unionized E-mart workers, who denounced Chung for ordering the measure while he promoted himself.
승진이후 정회장은 최소 15년 이상 이마트에서 근무한 경력이 있는 직원들로부터 자진사퇴를 받기 시작했다. 이마트가 몸집을 줄이기 위해 자진사퇴를 한 것은 이번이 처음이다. 이 때문에 정 회장이 직접 승진하면서 지시한 것을 비난하는 이마트 노조원들의 분노를 샀다.

E-mart's share value on Thursday stood at 68,300 won, a fall from 2018 when it was over 320,000 won. Korea Investors Service on Tuesday downgraded E-mart's credit grade from AA to AA-. NICE Investors Service did the same on March 22.
목요일 이마트의 주식 가치는 68,300원으로, 2018년 320,000원을 넘었던 것보다 하락했다. 한국투자증권은 화요일 이마트의 신용등급을 AA에서 AA-로 하향 조정했다. NICE투자증권도 3월 22일 같은 조치를 취했다.

A Shinsegae official said Chung's Instagram is irrelevant to the group's management, declining to link the deleted Instagram posts to Chung's fresh grip on the group.
신세계 관계자는 정회장의 인스타그램이 그룹 경영진과 무관하다며 삭제된 인스타그램 게시물을 정회장이 그룹을 새롭게 장악하는 것과 연계하는 것을 부인했다.

"The chairman manages his own Instagram, posting and deleting the posts all by himself," the official said. "The corporation has no involvement in his social media postings."
이 관계자는 "정회장이 직접 인스타그램을 관리하면서 게시물을 올리고 모두 삭제한다,"며 "공사는 그의 소셜미디어 게시물에 전혀 관여하지 않는다."고 말했다.

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