Lee Ho-jin, 64, former chairman of Taekwang Group, has been appointed as the ninth president of the Korea Volleyball Federation (KOVO).
KOVO announced Wednesday that it had selected the former Taekwang Group chairman as its new president at a board meeting and extraordinary general assembly held at the federation's conference room in Mapo-gu, Seoul. Team general managers decided to recommend Lee as president after exchanging views at a meeting on the 18th of this month.
The recommendation came after Lee expressed his intention to take on the role, with team officials noting that having a club owner serve as president would enable long-term business planning, including league development plans, youth development programs, and international initiatives.
With the appointment, Lee will lead volleyball administration following in the footsteps of his father, late Taekwang Group founder Lee Im-yong, who served as president of the Korea Amateur Volleyball Federation in 1970.
Taekwang Group has maintained a 55-year relationship with Korean volleyball, dating back to 1971 when it founded the Taekwang Industrial volleyball team, the predecessor of the women's professional volleyball club Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders. Sehwa Girls' Middle School and Sehwa Girls' High School, both under Taekwang Group, also operate volleyball teams dedicated to discovering and developing young talent.
Lee's three-year term begins in July. A graduate of Seoul National University with a degree in economics, he earned an MBA from Cornell University and completed doctoral studies in economics at New York University. He joined Heungkuk Life Insurance in 1993 and later served as president and chairman of Taekwang Industrial. Since February, as owner of the Heungkuk Life club, he has contributed to the federation's financial stability by securing Heungkuk Life as the V-League title sponsor for three years starting from the 2026-2027 season.
