Yoo Jung-jun, President of SK E&S, Also Promoted to Vice Chairman
Cho Dae-sik Reappointed as Chairman of SK Supex Council for Third Term
[Asia Economy Reporters Park So-yeon, Jo Seul-gi] Park Jung-ho, President of SK Telecom, was promoted to vice chairman in the 2021 SK Group executive reshuffle. The newly appointed Vice Chairman Park will lead SK Group's core big tech businesses as both CEO of SK Telecom and Vice Chairman of SK Hynix.
On the morning of the 3rd, SK Group held the Supex Council meeting at 10 a.m. and finalized the executive appointments and organizational restructuring across its affiliates. Following SK Group’s policy of separating the CEO role from the chairmanship of the board, Vice Chairman Park stepped down from his previous position as Chairman of the SK Hynix Board. Vice Chairman Park has led SK Group’s acquisition of Hynix and served as Chairman of the ICT Committee, gaining extensive experience across the semiconductor and ICT industries. Since March 2019, he has served as Chairman of the SK Hynix Board.
An industry insider said, "Vice Chairman Park played a major role in the acquisition of Hynix and the investment in Kioxia. The success of Intel’s NAND business acquisition depends on how the PMI (post-merger integration) is managed, and Vice Chairman Park will play a key role in ensuring a successful conclusion." This implies that strategist Vice Chairman Park will help SK Hynix, which is at a critical turning point in the semiconductor industry, to move beyond its DRAM focus and take a leap forward.
Vice Chairman Park also told Asia Economy in a phone interview immediately after the announcement, "Next year will be another year of change and significance," signaling upcoming transformations as SK Group’s strategist.
Additionally, this reshuffle is interpreted as a signal to accelerate SK Telecom’s transition into an intermediate holding company. Currently, SK Group’s governance structure flows from the owner family → SK Inc. → SK Telecom → SK Hynix. However, if SK Telecom becomes an intermediate holding company, SK Hynix’s status will change to a subsidiary, lifting the constraints that have hindered aggressive group-level investments and mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
The most likely governance structure is that SK Telecom will spin off into an investment company and an operating company, with the investment company as the intermediate holding company overseeing the operating company, SK Hynix, SK Broadband, and others. The market initially expected the governance restructuring centered on SK Telecom to be completed within one to two years after Vice Chairman Park was appointed Chairman of the Hynix Board in March last year. Vice Chairman Park is recognized as a leading M&A expert who led the acquisition of the former Hynix and is considered the right-hand man of SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won.
Alongside this, Yoo Jung-jun, President of SK E&S who leads SK’s hydrogen and future energy businesses, was also promoted to vice chairman. The newly appointed Vice Chairman Yoo was selected by Chairman Chey in 1998 while working at McKinsey. He has served as Head of SK Inc.’s G&G Promotion Team (President), Chairman of the Supex Council’s Global Growth Committee, inaugural Head of the Energy New Industry Promotion Team, and Chairman of the Energy & Chemicals Committee, leading the group’s future energy initiatives.
Meanwhile, while most companies including Samsung Electronics have pursued "renewal amid stability" in consideration of the COVID-19 pandemic and global crises, SK Group retained most of the CEOs of its major affiliates in this reshuffle. Cho Dae-sik, Chairman of the SK Supex Council, was reappointed for a third term for the first time. Despite the COVID-19 situation, SK Group has posted relatively strong performance compared to other groups. The companies acquired through recent mergers and acquisitions have driven solid results.
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