SK Group Executive Appointments Today... Park Seong-ha, CEO of SK C&C, to Lead SK Square?

SK Group Personnel Changes Scheduled for the 1st, ICT Leadership Shakeup
Vice Chairman Park Jung-ho Likely to Focus on SK Hynix
Park Seong-ha, SK C&C CEO, Considered for Next SK Square CEO
Yoon Poong-young, SK Square CIO, Expected to Lead SK C&C

Sungha Park, CEO of SK C&C

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] In the SK Group executive reshuffle scheduled for the 1st, a wave of changes is expected among the heads of information and communication technology (ICT) affiliates. Amid global semiconductor market uncertainties, Vice Chairman Park Jung-ho, who has been leading the group's three ICT companies?SK Square, SK Telecom, and SK Hynix?is focusing more on SK Hynix, leading to a reallocation of top executives within the affiliates.

According to business circles, Park Seong-ha, CEO of SK C&C, recently faced challenges due to a fire at the Pangyo data center but is considered a strong candidate for the next CEO of SK Square, the investment-focused holding company. Park has held various positions including Senior Manager of C&I Strategy and Head of Business Development Strategy at SK Telecom, Senior Manager of Information and Communication at SK, Head of Planning at SK C&C, and Executive Director of Portfolio Management at SK.

The vacancy left by CEO Park Seong-ha is expected to be filled by Yoon Poong-young, Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of SK Square. A former developer at IBM Korea, Yoon joined SK Telecom in 2007 and worked alongside Vice Chairman Park Jung-ho on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) involving SK Hynix and SK Infosec (now SK Shieldus). He also participated in the merger between SK C&C and SK Holdings.

Yoon Poong-young, Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of SK Square

Yoo Young-sang, CEO of SK Telecom, who was first appointed last year and has completed a one-year term, is highly likely to be retained. On the occasion of his first anniversary this month, Yoo announced three major strategies to transform the company into an artificial intelligence (AI) company. He also revealed plans to increase the company's value to over 40 trillion won by 2026.

Choi Jin-hwan, CEO of SK Broadband, whose three-year term is about to expire, is expected to step down. Choi, who previously served as CEO of ADT Caps, was appointed head of SK Broadband at the end of 2019 and has been leading the company since. It is anticipated that Yoo Young-sang will temporarily hold concurrent positions while the successor is selected. Park Jin-hyo, CEO of SK Shieldus, and Kang Jong-ryeol, head of SK Telecom’s infrastructure division, have been mentioned as potential candidates.

At the center of the changes in the ICT affiliate leadership structure are the semiconductor business and Vice Chairman Park. Under his leadership, the three ICT companies formed a 'coalition council' to collaborate organically in new business investments, telecommunications, and semiconductor sectors. However, as the global semiconductor market is forecasted to contract by 4% next year, increasing uncertainty in the industry, the importance of SK Hynix, the group's cash cow, has grown. The World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization projected on the 29th (local time) that the global semiconductor market size will shrink by 4.1% next year to $556.5 billion (approximately 734.74 trillion won) compared to this year. This is why it is expected that Vice Chairman Park will devote more attention to Hynix.

SK Group is reportedly planning to retain key vice chairmen including SK Vice Chairman Jang Dong-hyun, SK Innovation Vice Chairman Kim Jun, SK Hynix Vice Chairman Park Jung-ho, and SK E&S Vice Chairman Yoo Jung-joon to ensure stability in the group's management environment.

Meanwhile, SK Telecom is said to reduce team leader-level executives by 30% following organizational integration. This move is interpreted as an effort to improve internal workforce efficiency, which had become inefficient due to the subdivision of team organizations after the spin-off of SK Square.