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SK chief touts 'field management'
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, second from left, tours a SK hynix plant in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. Chey has focused on “field management,” visiting group units across the country, since Aug 14 when he was released from prison on a presidential pardon. / Courtesy of SK Group
By Lee Hyo-sik
By Lee Hyo-sik
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won has mostly been on the road to visit group affiliates and business partners since he was released from jail on a presidential pardon a week ago.
His rigorous “field management” is seen as a move to quickly retake control of the country’s third-largest conglomerate centering on semiconductors, energy and telecommunications, after his three-year absence.
According to SK officials Thursday, the chairman is expected to wrap up his domestic tour of group units by the end of this month.
He will then embark on an extensive overseas trip to tour SK operations in China and other countries, they said. While abroad, Chey will also likely meet with heads of states and CEOs of SK’s business partners.
On Thursday, he went to the Ulsan Industrial Complex in the southeastern part of the country to tour the group’s chemical plants, operated by SK Innovation, SK Chemical and other group manufacturers.
He also met with company CEOs and plant managers to check how the companies are faring. The chairman will stay there through Friday.
Chey is also scheduled to visit the Ulsan Creative Economy Innovation Center, operated by Hyundai Motor Group.
“Visiting the Ulsan complex is the last leg of the chairman’s domestic tour after he went to the group’s research hub in Daejeon and a SK hynix plant in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province,” a SK Group spokesman said. “Chey visited the Ulsan innovation center to see how it is run so that the group can more effectively manage its Daejeon Creative Economy Innovation Center.”
The chairman is then expected to go back to SK hynix plant in Icheon on Aug. 25 to attend a ceremony marking the completion of the next-generation semiconductor production line. At the time, he will unveil details on the company’s 46 trillion won investment project, according to group officials.
Chey will then spend the remaining days of August in the country, touring offices of SK Telecom and other affiliates in Seoul and holding a series of business meetings with heads of group units.
“In September, the chairman will head overseas to restart his global business campaign,” the spokesman said. “It hasn’t been decided yet where he will go first. But he is expected to go to China first where SK has invested billions of dollars in chemical and other industries. He will likely then head to Southeast Asia, the United States and South America.”
In China, Chey will focus on reinitiating business partnerships with Sinopec and other Chinese companies, and find new opportunities in the world’s second-largest economy.
SK has been struggling in China over the past few years as it hasn’t been able to expand its presence largely because of Chey’s absence.
On Aug. 14 when he was released, he went to the group headquarters in downtown Seoul and met with group executives. In the following days, he also came to the office to ponder how SK will move forward and contribute to revitalizing the sagging local economy, according to group.
Chey then visited SK hynix plant in Icheon and the Daejeon innovation center.