Kwon Oh-Chul Named Hynix CEO
By Kim Yoo-chul
Staff Reporter
Creditors of Hynix Semiconductor have picked Kwon Oh-chul as the new chief executive of the world's second-biggest memory chipmaker to replace Kim Jong-kap.
Kwon is the chairman of Hynix-Numonyx Semiconductor Ltd. located in China, and was the former chief financial officer (CFO) and senior vice president of Hynix's strategic planning office.
He awaits final approval from a board of directors meeting, which is scheduled to be held at the end of March.
The outgoing CEO, whose three-year term ends in March, will remain as chairman of the board, Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) said in a statement Thursday.
``Creditors gave credit to Kwon for his finance-driven history. By naming Kwon as CEO and retaining Kim as board chairman, Hynix is expected to get both balanced decision-making and operational structures,'' a high-ranking representative at one of the creditor banks told The Korea Times.
Executive vice president Choi Jin-seog, executive vice president Park Sung-wook and the current CFO Kim Min-chul had competed for the top position, according to KEB.
KEB also said the banks have agreed to sell as much as 13 percent out of their combined 28.07 stake in Hynix in block sales this year after creditors failed to find the ``right buyer.''
Creditors plan to sell an 8 percent stake in the chipmaker during the first half of the year and the remaining 5 percent in the second half if they fail to find a buyer for the remaining 20.07 percent again.