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By Jane Han
Staff Reporter
SK Corporation, the country's largest and Asia's fourth-largest oil refiner, has officially launched operations under its new structure as SK Holdings and SK Energy after an executive board meeting Monday.
Chey Tae-won became chairman of the board and CEO of both SK Holdings and SK Energy, while Park Young-ho and Shin Heon-chol were each named president of the holding and operation companies, respectively.
Suh Yoon-suk, dean of the College & Graduate School of Business at Ewha Womans University; Kang Chan-soo, chairman & CEO of Seoul Securities; and Park Sei-hoon, executive vice president of Tongyang Global, were appointed as part of the five-member board of directors of SK Holdings.
As members of the SK Energy board were nine directors, including Kim Joon-ho, executive vice president of SK Corp.; Cho Soon, former Seoul mayor; Han Young-suk, former minister of legislation; Nam Dae-woo, a consultant at Sang-G Management; Oh Sei-jong, former board chairman of Kookmin Bank; Kim Tae-yoo, a professor at Seoul National University; and Han In-gu, a professor at KAIST.
The holding company has six divisions _ ethical management, planning, business support, financial affairs, human resources and brand management _ along with one SKMS (SK Management System) practice center, in total housing 70 employees.
Additionally, a separate life science business department to seek future growth areas includes some 120 employees.
Through a company broadcast, Chairman Chey emphasized that the structural shift will bring new challenges and meaning to everyone at the company.
``The holding firm will continuously invest in high potential business areas to maximize the growth of the operating company, and work toward a global portfolio will also be strengthened,'' Chey said.
SK, South Korea's third-largest conglomerate, was reorganized into a holding company when shareholders of SK Corp. approved the plan in late May to split off the oil refiner to simplify and enhance corporate governance.
SK Holdings and SK Energy will be listed separately on the Korea Exchange on July 25, with the energy group focusing on energy and chemicals and the holding company concentrating on business investment.
SK Corp. is the second ``chaebol'' to form a holding company after LG's reshuffle in July 2004.
jhan@koreatimes.co.kr
