SK Hynix appoints Han Aera as first female chairperson of the board

Legal Expert and Former Chief Judge... Also Active in AI Research
Number of Female Board Chairpersons in SK Group Increases to Four

SK Hynix has appointed Professor Han Aera of Sungkyunkwan University School of Law as the new chairman of the board. Chairman Han, a legal expert and former chief judge, became the first female chairman since the establishment of SK Hynix.

SK Hynix announced on the 27th that Professor Han was appointed as the chairman of the board at the board meeting held after the regular shareholders' meeting. An SK Hynix official explained, "New Chairman Han Aera joined the company's board in 2020 and concurrently served as an audit committee member, contributing as a legal expert to strengthening the company's governance and audit functions. We expect her to play a significant role in expanding board diversity and enhancing governance."

Han Aera, the new chairman of the board at SK Hynix. Photo by SK Hynix

Born in 1972, the new chairman Han graduated from Seoul National University School of Law and passed the 37th Judicial Examination in 1995. She has served as a judicial research professor, chief judge at Changwon District Court, and judicial research officer at the Supreme Court. From 2016 to 2018, she worked as a lawyer at Kim & Chang law firm. Currently, she is active as a conciliator at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and as an international arbitrator at the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board. Since 2022, she has been serving as the vice president of the Korean Association for Artificial Intelligence Law, conducting research on various laws, systems, and policy responses related to the field of artificial intelligence (AI).

Chairman Han Aera stated, "In the rapidly changing domestic and international environment, I will do my best to ensure that SK Hynix remains focused as a technology company and continues to grow."

With the appointment of Chairman Han, SK Group has strengthened board diversity by newly appointing a total of four women as board chairpersons so far this year. The group’s holding company, SK Inc., appointed Kim Sunhee, vice chairman and CEO of Maeil Dairies, as the board chairman the day before. SK Biopharm and SKC also appointed Seo Jihee, a distinguished professor in the Department of Business Administration at Ewha Womans University, and Chae Eunmi, former president of Petex Korea, respectively, as board chairpersons for the first time since their founding.