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Apple Korea appointed a new executive to help lead the company. It named the former country president of Applied Materials Korea, Mark Lee, as its new president and head of sales.
According to Korea Joongang Daily, Apple Korea confirmed the new appointment on Tuesday, Nov. 1. It was reported that Lee first joined the company about two weeks ago and filled up the job vacancy that has been open for a year.
The role was left open after the firm’s general manager, Brandon Yoon, resigned from his post in November 2021. The newly-appointed president is said to be a Korean-American who worked at Applied Materials Korea in 2003 and became its regional general manager from 2020 until this year.
Prior to starting his career in the business field in 2000 as an account technologist at Novellus Systems chip equipment maker, he served as a Lieutenant of the United States Navy from 1995 to 2000.
Now, as Apple Korea’s new president, he has many issues to solve, especially matters related to the company’s in-app payment policy, which has been a problem since last year. This is because South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC) is looking into the company after raising its app developers’ commission rates for in-app purchases.
At any rate, despite this issue, Apple Korea inaugurated its fourth store in Seoul. It was in September when the iPhone maker opened its newest Apple Store outlet in Lotte World Mall located in the Jamsil Songpa-gu district.
Apple’s chief executive officer, Tim Cook, announced the opening of the store under its Korean division. He also shared a photo of the outlet’s first customer being welcomed and cheered on by the store’s employees.
In his tweet, the CEO simply said, “We are excited to connect with more customers in Seoul as we open Apple Jamsil in the vibrant Songpa District!”
The new store is being operated by a total of 115 staff, and since Apple is a brand known worldwide, the employees speak different languages. They will be able to easily communicate with non-Korean-speaking buyers as the staff members collectively speak 10 languages.
Photo by: Matias Cruz/Pixabay
