Despite the continued rise in the number of female executives in recent years, it is still hard to find a female chief executive officer in male-dominant South Korean big companies, data showed on Sunday.

CEO Score, an online corporate management evaluator, said its recent survey of the top 1,000 Korean companies by revenue found that only eight companies are led by a woman CEO. Furthermore, most of the female CEOs were found to be a family member of the company’s owner.

The Shilla Seoul, one of the nation’s top hotels, which is ranked at 213th among the top 1,000 companies, is led by female CEO Lee Boo-jin. Lee, 44, is the oldest daughter of Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee and took the helm of the hotel in 2011, becoming the first female CEO in Samsung Group.

Prudential Life Korea, the 232nd largest company in Korea, is run by female CEO Sohn Byoung-ok. Sohn, 60, was named as the first and only female CEO in the finance industry last year. She had led the company’s human resources division before taking the top post. Unlike the junior Lee, Sohn climbed up the corporate ladder without support from her background or family.

Park Song-kyung, 58, leads E-Land World, the 266th largest company in Korea. She is a family member of the E-Land Group, a retail giant, as a younger sister of the group founder Park Sung-soo.

The other five companies led by a female leadership are Geoyoung, Geoyoung Networks, Ultra Construction & Engineering, Sungjoo D&D, and KKOIL.

Hyundai Global, a subsidiary of Hyundai Group, which is led by group chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun, failed to put its name on the survey due to its smaller size.

Industry sources expected more female CEOs in Korea in the future, given the rising number of female executives in companies.

Last Friday, Kolon Group, the nation’s 30th-largest conglomerate, promoted Lee Soo-young, 44, senior vice president of its subsidiary Kolon Water & Energy, as CEO.

KT, the nation’s largest fixed line operator, said on Sunday it promoted three female executives at its three major business sectors ― corporate communications, global & enterprise, and new business ― when it carried out a major reorganization.

By Seo Jee-yeon (jyseo@heraldcorp.com)