SK reshuffles top management focusing on generational shift

SK Group headquarters in downtown Seoul / Yonhap

SK Supex Council Chairman Chey Chang-won, left, and SK Biopharmaceuticals Vice President Chey Yoon-chung / Courtesy of each firm

SK Group initiated a sweeping top-level management overhaul, appointing younger executives to lead key affiliates in a strategic move to boost innovation amid persistent domestic and international business uncertainties, the company said on Thursday.

Under the year-end reshuffle, Chey Chang-won, the former vice chairman at SK Discovery, has taken on a new role as the head of SK Supex Council. The position is considered the second-highest rank within the group. Chey is a cousin of SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won.

The new chief of SK’s consultative panel is widely expected to seek a soft landing of the ongoing shake-up of the group’s top management and organizational restructuring. Cho Dae-sik, the former chairman of the council, will serve as a vice chairman at SK Inc. and as an adviser for the group’s global investment strategy.

“Leaders from SK’s affiliates voiced their consensus that the new chief of the council is the most qualified for developing the group’s management style,” an official at SK Group said.

SK also hinted at tightening the owner family’s grip within the group by promoting the eldest daughter of Chey Tae-won. Chey Yoon-chung, 34, was promoted to vice president of SK Biopharmaceuticals in the latest reshuffle, becoming the youngest executive of the group. She joined the bio affiliate in 2017 and returned to the firm two years later as the head of its global strategy and investment team.

Other top-ranking executives were also replaced by younger leaders.

Park Jung-ho will step down from his co-CEO position at SK hynix, but will serve as vice chairman. He will focus on widening SK’s partnerships with global big tech firms to tighten its footing abroad. This has paved the way for SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung to exercise sole leadership.

SK Inc. Vice Chairman Jang Dong-hyun will maintain his position there, and was also appointed as vice chairman of SK ecoplant, the construction engineering arm of the group. SK Innovation Vice Chairman Kim Jun will also maintain his post, but drop his dual role as CEO of the company after the latest reshuffle.

“The large-scale shake-up shows our major generational shift aimed at overcoming unfavorable business circumstances represented by economic doldrums here and abroad,” the SK official said. “The reshuffle of top management will be a major turning point for us to achieve sustainable growth at this period of geopolitical crisis. The vice chairmen-level leaders will continue working at the group and serve as key advisers for younger management.”

SK Group also said the reshuffle will help the conglomerate take preemptive steps to deal with rapidly-changing business conditions. This will also reinforce the group’s overall internal management structure to boost synergy between affiliates, according to the company.