본문 바로가기
bar_progress

Text Size

Close

Cheong Chang-won at First Saturday Meeting... Will the 'Silsa-gusi' Philosophy Change SK?

Two Months Since Taking Office as Chairman Last December
Unpretentious Visits to Restaurants and Cafes Without Attendants

Cheong Chang-won at First Saturday Meeting... Will the 'Silsa-gusi' Philosophy Change SK? Choi Chang-won, Chairman of the SK Supex Council, is speaking at the Global Forum held at the SK Bioscience headquarters in June last year.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

"Chairman Choi Chang-won is seen even when passing through the lobby of the Seorin Building (SK headquarters building). Since he moves around simply without aides, there are times when people don’t recognize him and just pass by."


The internal evaluation of Choi Chang-won, who rose to become the 'second-in-command' of SK Group as Chairman of the SK Supex Council (Vice Chairman of SK Discovery), is summarized as 'unpretentious.' It has been well over two months since Vice Chairman Choi took office on December 7 last year and started coming to the Seorin Building. He is known to be carefully overseeing the group and the Discovery affiliates while commuting between the Seorin Building and the SK Discovery building in Pangyo. Chairman Choi, who dislikes formalities and uses restaurants and cafes without aides, is followed by an evaluation of being 'practical.'


While SK Group Chairman Choi Tae-won urged employees to adopt the attitude of "Haehyeon-gyeongjang (解弦更張, literally 'retuning the geomungo strings')" at the start of the new year, Chairman Choi’s 'management four-character idiom' is Silsa-gusi (實事求是, meaning 'seeking truth from facts'). This characteristic of Chairman Choi can also be glimpsed through recent changes in the group’s atmosphere. After SK Group failed to achieve investment results one after another in major new business areas, it reorganized its organization at the end of last year to unify and streamline investment functions along with executive personnel changes. The investment functions, which had been dispersed between the SK Supex Council and SK Inc., were all transferred to SK Inc., a specialized investment holding company, for efficient investment in response to changes in the global management environment. This unification of investment functions considered overlapping investments among affiliates and deteriorating investment performance.


In the case of the Intel NAND flash business division (now Solidigm), which SK Group acquired with an investment of about 11 trillion won in November 2021, it recorded a net loss of over 3 trillion won last year alone, increasing the burden on the core semiconductor business. There is speculation that under Chairman Choi’s leadership, a strong reform including a review of overlapping businesses among affiliates may be carried out in the future.


Chairman Choi is known as a meticulous planner and finance expert with exceptional execution ability. He has also been recognized for his expertise as a manager in discovering future growth engines for the group such as eco-friendly materials, energy, and bio, as well as in business restructuring. He is evaluated as a figure who possesses execution power as well. Vice Chairman Choi Chang-won was appointed CEO of SK Chemicals in 2007 and later served as CEO of the intermediate holding company SK Discovery in 2017, leading SK’s chemical and bio businesses.


A business community official said, "Chairman Choi is the right person to coordinate overall decision-making at SK Group, where speed in change and innovation is necessary, and to swiftly execute innovation. The Supex Council chairman is a position that implements the management philosophy close to Chairman Choi Tae-won, and as a member of the owner family, Chairman Choi is suitable for ‘responsible management.’"


Following Chairman Choi’s reform drive, each affiliate of the group is tightening its belt. Executives are taking the lead with a proactive attitude. SK Supex Council executives decided to autonomously determine whether to use the Friday off granted twice a month as part of the flexible work system. Lee Seok-hee, CEO of SK On, voluntarily decided to return 20% of his annual salary until the company achieves profitability. At the first executive meeting after his inauguration at the end of last month, CEO Lee said, "We are currently facing a crisis due to the US interest rate hike rally and the slowdown in market growth caused by the global economic recession," and urged, "2024 is the ‘turnaround year’ with a heavy mission, and CEOs and executives must take the lead in overcoming the crisis with their lives on the line." He also encouraged executives to start work at 7 a.m.


On Saturday the 17th, the SK Supex Council held a Strategic Global Committee meeting at an undisclosed location where key executives gathered to share information and discuss current issues. About 6 to 7 people, including Chairman Choi Chang-won and CEOs of major affiliates, attended this meeting.


An SK Group official said, "It was practically impossible to regularly meet with major affiliate CEOs on weekdays," and added, "The SK Supex Council is a place to discuss management issues, exchange opinions, and provide advice, so it is not a place to make final decisions on major business company decisions."


© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.

Special Coverage


Join us on social!

Top