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| Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, right, inspects EUV line of the company's Pyeongtaek foundry facility, Monday. / Courtesy of Samsung Electronics |
By Baek Byung-yeul
Samsung, Hyundai Motor, SK, LG, Hanwha and other conglomerates here put their emphasis on corporate responsibility in their New Year addresses at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic still looms large, industry analysts said Monday.
The chiefs of the conglomerates also stressed they will work on turning the virus crisis into an opportunity by actively seeking new business chances this year.
Due to the pandemic, major conglomerates here skipped their usual offline New Year events.
Before the virus hit, the conglomerates used to hold annual "kick-off" meetings for the year with the leaders voicing their groups' vision, but these have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 situation.
Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong started his New Year by visiting the chip giant's Pyeongtaek Line 2 facility Monday to commemorate bringing in new foundry equipment.
The Line 2 facility is the world's largest semiconductor production line, manufacturing DRAM and NAND flash memory chips and foundry projects.
The Samsung Group leader inspected the operation of the facility and discussed cooperation with both domestic and international semiconductor equipment makers.
"Let's leap to a new Samsung in the New Year. Together, we can make our future wide open," Lee said during his visit. "By cooperating with partner firms, academia and research institutions, let's create a healthy ecosystem and create a new story," he added.
Lee's visit to the Pyeongtaek facility shows Samsung is seeking to strengthen its foundry business, or contract-based chip manufacturing. The global top memory chip maker is the runner-up in the foundry business behind Taiwan's TSMC which has more than half the global market share.
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| SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won |
Chey also suggested that employees expand the group's charitable program Happy Lunch Box nationwide. At a time when the country's food distribution agencies are struggling due to the virus pandemic, he proposed that the group needs to find a way to expand the program to more vulnerable groups in society.
"There will be no additional event given the virus pandemic is still rampaging," an SK Group official said. He added the group decided to donate the cost they would need to hold the annual event to support the socially vulnerable.
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| Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun |
In an email sent to employees worldwide, Chung stressed that they were entrusted with a mission, to offer safe mobility to the world.
The chairman also said the group will concentrate on securing a bigger share in the eco-friendly vehicle market and future mobility technologies.
This year, the automotive group is scheduled to release new electric vehicles (EVs) based on its Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP) in an effort to catch up with market leaders such as Tesla. The group said cars produced on the platform will be capable of a maximum driving range of over 500 kilometers on a fully charged battery.
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| LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo delivers his New Year's address online, Monday. / Courtesy of LG Corp. |
LG Group employees started New Year with Chairman Koo Kwang-mo's online message as the conglomerate decided not to hold a physical meeting.
In the message, he urged employees to focus on customer value to make more customers fans of LG.
The online event demonstrated Koo's "pragmatic" management style. Since 2020, LG has joined the trend of skipping rigid formalities with the aim of letting its employees focus on essential tasks.
Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn called on employees to take the lead in coping with the COVID-19 crisis as responsible members of society and secure new growth engines to expand its leadership in the global market.
Kim said the pandemic will last and business uncertainties will continue for the next two or three years. In this difficult time, the group needs to speed up innovation to become a leader in the defense industry, eco-friendly energy and finance.
The country's telecommunications companies also held their New Year events online.
KT CEO Ku Hyeon-mo vowed to transform the company into a digital platform company to help turn its focus to emerging technologies such as AI, big data and cloud computing.
LG Uplus CEO Hwang Hyun-sik also delivered his New Year address online and highlighted the need for "qualitative growth" by offering quality services to customers.
SK Telecom CEO Park Jung-ho is also scheduled to deliver his New Year message online. He is expected to highlight the importance of applying AI technology to the business as the emerging technology will become a stepping stone for every platform business.
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