Lee Gyu-lee is a business writer at The Korea Times, focusing primarily on IT & telecommunications, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and KOTRA. Prior to this, she has covered a wide range of cultural news, from film, television and K-pop to lifestyle and fashion.
SK chairman calls out focus on compensation as ‘shortsighted’
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, center, speaks during the Icheon Forum in Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of SK SUPEX Council
By Lee Gyu-lee
Amid ongoing tensions over employee incentives at its subsidiary SK hynix, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won has delivered a pointed message, warning that an excessive focus on compensation could cloud the company’s long-term vision.
“Fixating solely on compensation blinds us to the future. That is a shortsighted mindset,” he said at the company’s annual Icheon Forum in Seoul on Wednesday.
“I have heard that even a 1,700 percent bonus is not enough for some people, but raising it to 3,000 percent or even 5,000 percent will not make anyone truly happy.”
His remarks came amid SK hynix’s ongoing labor-management conflict over performance bonuses. After posting a record operating profit of 23.5 trillion won ($16.8 billion) last year, the company announced plans to raise the bonus cap from 1,000 percent to 1,700 percent. However, the union has been insisting that the company is responsible for distributing 10 percent of its operating profit as bonuses, as agreed in the management-labor agreement signed in 2021.
“SK hynix has risen to the top of the semiconductor industry, yet uncertainty and discontent remain,” Chey said.
The Icheon Forum, launched in 2017, brings together global experts, academics and SK employees every year to explore industry trends, breakthroughs in technology and SK’s future business strategies.
Since 2019, the forum has selected artificial intelligence (AI) as its core agenda, inviting renowned scholars and leaders from global tech firms. This year, William Fong, former global solution strategy director at Microsoft, and Mohamad Ali, senior vice president at IBM, joined to share their insights on expanding the AI ecosystem and innovative use cases from the field.
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, center, poses with participants of the Icheon Forum in Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of SK SUPEX Council
Speaking during the last session, Chey emphasized that employees should familiarize themselves with AI technology in the rapidly evolving industry.
“We have entered an era where rapid adoption of AI and digital transformation technologies is essential for building differentiated competitiveness. Each member of our organization needs to become comfortable engaging with AI, and only then can we achieve real innovation and success,” he said.
“In the future, most of the work we do today will be handled by AI agents. People should focus their efforts on creative pursuits and generating new value.”
Chey also highlighted SK’s push for operational improvement, stressing that it is essential for strengthening the company’s foundation for change.
“Even as the AI era arrives, without solid fundamentals, anything we build on top will eventually collapse,” he said. “That is why fully understanding and reinforcing day-to-day operations are essential for building real competitiveness in the AI era.”
Encouraging employees to speak out and work together to pursue collective happiness, Chey underscored SK’s management goal.
“While happiness may look different for each individual, the goal of the SK management system (SKMS) is ultimately to enhance the collective happiness we all share. To achieve sustainable happiness, everyone needs to speak out proactively and work together with enthusiasm,” he said.
“SKMS should evolve not just for the benefit of its members, but also to consider the happiness of society and a diverse range of stakeholders at the same time.”