Appointment of Hynix Veteran Technologist
Organization Slimming... Focus on US Relations and AI
Choi Yoon-jung Also Takes Charge of Holding Company's 'Growth Support'
SK Group's ongoing 'rebalancing (business restructuring)' policy throughout this year has been fully reflected in the year-end personnel appointments. To ensure stable changes, sporadic personnel changes were made throughout the year, with only two promotions to president and the number of newly appointed executives reduced to about half compared to previous years.
While strengthening the business competitiveness of the group's core businesses, semiconductors and batteries, there were appointments of technology field experts and organizational restructuring aimed at enhancing AI (artificial intelligence) capabilities, the next-generation business.
On the 5th, SK Group held the SUPEX Council meeting to share and discuss executive appointments and organizational restructuring matters decided through the boards of directors of each affiliate. The total number of newly appointed executives was 75, down from 82 last year. Compared to 145 in 2023, it is about half. The average age of newly appointed executives was 49.4 years old, up from 48.5 years last year.
Looking at the detailed personnel list, there were many transfers crossing affiliate boundaries.
First, Son Hyun-ho, Head of Strategy Support Team at SK SUPEX Council (Vice President), was appointed as President and CEO of SK Discovery. Also, Kim Ki-dong, Head of Management Support Division (also Chief Financial Officer) at SK Chemical, a Discovery affiliate, moved to become Head of Finance at SK Inc., the group's holding company.
Since Choi Chang-won, cousin of Chairman Choi Tae-won, expanded his role as Chairman of SK SUPEX Council earlier this year, personnel exchanges between SK and SK Discovery have been active.
SK On appointed Shin Chang-ho, PM Division Head at the holding company SK Inc., as the Chief Operating Officer. He will manage SK On’s operations leveraging his diverse experience accumulated at the holding company.
The merged entity of SK Innovation and SK E&S, with assets totaling 105 trillion won (as of the first half of this year), has officially launched. After about three months of preparation following the merger announcement in July, the largest private energy company in the Asia-Pacific region has been established. The photo shows the SK Seorin Building in Jongno-gu, Seoul, where SK Innovation's headquarters is located. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung
In particular, personnel transfers were made to spread SK Hynix's unique 'world-class DNA,' which has led the domestic semiconductor industry this year through high-bandwidth memory (HBM), across all affiliates.
Pi Seung-ho, Head of Manufacturing and Development at SK Siltron, was appointed as Head of Manufacturing at SK On. He led the development of functional wafers, which were previously dependent on overseas sources, while serving as R&D Director at SK Hynix’s Future Technology Research Institute, driving localization of materials and components.
Following CEO Lee Seok-hee, he is another SK Hynix alumnus expected to prepare proactive responses for market expansion after the electric vehicle market chasm (temporary demand stagnation).
Additionally, SK plans to implant this 'innovation DNA' by transferring SK Hynix alumni executives to SK Siltron and SK Inc. C&C, among others.
SK Group also carried out organizational restructuring to accelerate AI and digital transformation (DT) businesses, which are regarded as next-generation growth engines. The strategy is to consolidate capabilities across affiliates in one place to strengthen synergy.
The AI Task Force led by Yoo Young-sang, CEO of SK Telecom under the Strategy and Global Committee of SK SUPEX Council, was expanded into the AI Promotion Group, and a separate DT Promotion Team was newly established apart from the existing DT Task Force led by Yoon Poong-young, CEO of SK Inc. C&C.
Also, SK Telecom is leading the establishment of an AI R&D Center to promote synergy among affiliates such as SK Hynix. SK Inc. has newly established an 'AI Innovation Division' directly under the CEO to explore new business opportunities.
Chairman Choi Tae-won presented a vision at last month's 'SK AI Summit,' stating, "To accelerate the future of AI, SK will contribute to global AI innovation and ecosystem enhancement by combining SK’s AI capabilities with global partnerships."
Furthermore, unnecessary organizations will be reduced through operational improvements (OI) at each affiliate to speed up rebalancing.
The SK SUPEX Council will maintain the structure of eight committees and a small elite policy while deploying previously nurtured personnel to affiliate sites. SK Innovation recently integrated management functions of the merged SK Innovation to enhance synergy and consolidated portfolio rebalancing, purchasing, and AI·DT functions under the OI Promotion Team. SKC also downsized its organization and reorganized it to be field-centered.
To quickly respond to increasing external risk factors, Paul Delaney was appointed Vice President and Head of Government Relations at SK Americas, newly established as the North American external affairs control tower. Paul Delaney previously served as Chief of Staff at the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and International Trade Advisor to the Senate Finance Committee. He joined SK Americas in July and oversees the group’s government relations in the Americas.
Meanwhile, Choi Tae-won's eldest daughter, Choi Yoon-jung, Head of Business Development at SK Biopharm, will concurrently serve as Head of 'Growth Support,' a newly established division at SK Inc., and will additionally lead the newly created organization for discovering future growth businesses, focusing on identifying new growth engines.
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