HDC Hyundai Development Company, Yoo Byung-kyu and Ha Won-gi Resign... Choi Ik-hoon Appointed CEO and Organizational Restructuring

Establishment of the 'Hwajeong I-Park Rebuilding Promotion Team'

Ikhoon Choi, New CEO of HDC Hyundai Development Company

Byung-kyu Yoo and Won-ki Ha, co-CEOs of HDC Hyundai Development Company, have stepped down taking responsibility for the exterior wall collapse accident at Gwangju Hwajeong-dong I-Park, and Choi Ik-hoon, CEO of HDC I-Park Mall, has been appointed as the new CEO.

On the 25th, HDC Hyundai Development Company (HDC) announced, "Choi Ik-hoon, CEO of HDC I-Park Mall, has been appointed as the new CEO effective May 30."

In the executive personnel changes at the end of last year, Yoo and Ha, who were appointed as co-CEOs, decided to step down from their CEO positions to focus on managing the Hwajeong-dong I-Park incident. To this end, HDC established the 'Hwajeong I-Park Rebuilding Task Force.' HDC explained, "Under a greater sense of responsibility, the former co-CEOs will dedicate themselves to accident management and restoring trust."

New CEO Choi Ik-hoon is recognized in the industry as a professional manager with creative thinking and rational leadership. He has created new achievements and business models at major affiliates of the HDC Group, including HDC. Notably, he led the KOSPI listing of HDC Labs (formerly HDC I-controls) and the big data platform business of Real Estate 114. He also has experience in developing and operating complex commercial facilities, including the complete renovation of HDC I-Park Mall.

With the launch of Choi’s leadership, HDC reorganized its structure into three headquarters and two offices. Vice President Tae-je Cho, who has extensive field experience, will take charge of the newly established Construction Headquarters. Kim Hoe-eon, Executive Director, and Lee Hyun-woo, Managing Director, recognized as leading financial and sales experts within the group, were appointed as heads of the Management Planning Headquarters and Development Sales Headquarters, respectively. Additionally, the Product Development Office and Investment Development Office were newly established to be responsible for developing future products and new businesses. The CSO (Chief Safety Officer) organization, established in February, will continue to operate independently to elevate HDC’s safety and quality management to the highest industry standards.

Meanwhile, the Gwangju Police Department’s Violent Crime Investigation Unit filed charges against CEO Won-ki Ha on the same day for negligent homicide in the line of duty related to the Gwangju Hwajeong I-Park collapse accident.

CEO Ha is accused of failing to assign enough quality managers to oversee the overall construction process at the Hwajeong I-Park new construction site, which led to the collapse accident on January 11 that caused six deaths and one injury.

According to the Construction Technology Promotion Act, for construction projects with a total cost exceeding 100 billion KRW or a total floor area over 50,000 square meters, at least one senior technician, one intermediate technician, and one junior technician must be assigned.

At the Hwajeong I-Park Phase 1 and 2 sites (eight buildings), three construction quality managers were appointed per complex, totaling six, but in reality, one person handled the duties alone while the other five concurrently performed other tasks such as process management.