Subway Korea appoints former Outback Steakhouse CEO as new head

Subway Korea's new country director Cho In-soo poses for picture at one of its restaurants in Seoul, on May 17. Courtesy of Subway Korea

By Kim Jae-heun

Subway Korea has appointed former Outback Steakhouse Korea CEO Cho In-soo as its new country director, replacing former head Colin Clark who managed the sandwich restaurant franchise here for the past 15 years, the company said Wednesday. Clark left the firm in March.

It was an unexpected personnel change as Clark managed the business stably since the fast food restaurant franchise opened its first store in Seoul in 2007.

Subway Korea is said to have felt a threat to its competitiveness after a number of global sandwich chains entered the Korean market recently. Quiznos and Egg Drop have been taking some of the market share little by little and other global brands like Lenwich and Earl of Sandwich are preparing to launch their business here soon.

Subway still dominates the Korean sandwich market firmly, but the competition is likely to grow more with the newcomers.

Cho is expected to maintain Subway Korea's strong reputation as the No.1 player in the sandwich game.

Cho will put priority on maximizing profit for franchisees and strengthening communication with them.

"Subway is the fast food restaurant chain that owns the most stores around the world. Recently, it has shown a prominent growth with its quick delivery service in the local market. I will build Subway as the people's No.1 brand," Cho said.

Cho has wide experience in the fast food restaurant chain business as a marketer. He held positions at Pizza Hut, KFC Japan and headed Outback Steakhouse Korea, where he achieved a turnaround when the company was showing a loss.

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