'Hanwha 3rd Generation' Kim Dong-kwan Formalizes Responsible Management

Appointment of Hanwha Solutions Inside Director

At the Forefront of Group Decision-Making

Leading Roles in Future Businesses such as Solar Power, Petrochemicals, and Advanced Materials

Taking Charge of Strategic Leadership

[Asia Economy Reporter Park So-yeon] Kim Dong-kwan, Vice President of Hanwha Solutions and the eldest son of Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-yeon, has strengthened his position within the group by being appointed as a new inside director. As the top successor in Hanwha Group’s succession plan, Vice President Kim is expected to take a leading role in overall company decision-making as a board member and actively engage in management. He is anticipated to assist Chairman Kim and take full responsibility for leading the group’s future businesses.

Hanwha Solutions announced on the 21st that it held a board meeting the previous day and appointed Vice President Kim, head of the Strategy Division, as a new inside director candidate. Vice President Kim graduated from Harvard University and joined Hanwha Corporation, the holding company, in 2010.

After being promoted to Vice President and appointed head of the Strategy Division at Hanwha Solutions, the merged entity of Hanwha Chemical and Hanwha Q CELLS, at the end of last year, he has concurrently served as head of the Strategy Division at Hanwha Corporation since this year. Vice President Kim is responsible for establishing mid- to long-term strategies for Hanwha Solutions, a core affiliate of Hanwha Group encompassing solar power, petrochemicals, and advanced materials, working to enhance corporate value.

A Hanwha Solutions official explained, "Hanwha Solutions was created by merging three companies in the fields of solar power, petrochemicals, and advanced materials. Vice President Kim’s task is to create synergy among these three industries and find future growth engines. He plays a pivotal role in key decision-making, and his appointment as an inside director signifies his commitment to carrying out strategy formulation and decision-making with a strong sense of responsibility."

In the business community, Kim Dong-kwan’s emergence as an inside director of Hanwha Solutions, the group’s core company, is interpreted as the beginning of succession, especially since Chairman Kim has not yet returned to active management.

The decision by Hanwha Solutions to withdraw from the polysilicon business marks the first step. It is known that Vice President Kim led the decision to exit the polysilicon business as profitability deteriorated due to a low-price supply offensive from China.

A Hanwha Solutions official stated, "The selling price of polysilicon is about half of the production cost, so the higher the operating rate, the greater the losses. We understand this decision was made to resolve uncertainties. The business is expected to be wound down within the year." Hanwha Solutions recorded a net loss of 248.9 billion KRW last year.

For the first time among domestic conglomerates, Hanwha Solutions will also introduce an employee stock compensation system. The Restricted Stock Unit (RSU) system, which uses company shares for employee rewards, is unfamiliar in Korea but widely used in the U.S. information and communication technology (ICT) industry. Under certain conditions, shares are granted free of charge at the relevant time.

Additionally, Hanwha Solutions announced four new outside director candidates on the same day: Amanda Bush, partner at St. Augustine Capital Partners; Satoshi Shima, former Chief of Staff at SoftBank; Professor Park Ji-hyung of Seoul National University’s Department of Economics; and Seo Jeong-ho, attorney at Wiz Law Firm. Amanda Bush is the daughter-in-law of Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida. Jeb Bush is the son of George H.W. Bush, the 41st President of the United States.

Satoshi Shima served as Chief of Staff to Masayoshi Son, Chairman of Japan’s SoftBank. The agenda for appointing inside and outside directors will be resolved at the regular shareholders’ meeting scheduled for mid-March. Furthermore, Hanwha Solutions plans to repurchase and retire 1% of its total issued shares and pay dividends of 200 KRW per common share (250 KRW per preferred share). The total amount for share retirement and dividends corresponds to approximately 63.1 billion KRW based on the previous day’s closing price.