이 기사는 2021년 08월 30일 07시34분 thebell에 표출된 기사입니다

South Korea’s Hanwha Group has announced changes in its leadership team, the first such move since the conglomerate’s chairman Kim Seung-youn returned to work earlier this year after the employment ban imposed on him was lifted in February.

New chief executives have been appointed at Hanwha Systems, Hanwha Solutions, Hanwha General Chemical and Hanwha Savings Bank, according to the announcement on Thursday. Hanwha E&C’s chief executive has been promoted to vice chairman.

The changes were internal moves with no external recruitment, which signals a focus on stability rather than reform.

This year’s leadership changes within the conglomerate came a month earlier than other years. Hanwha Group has announced leadership changes every September since 2018. This compares with other South Korean family-run conglomerates which typically announce annual personnel changes in December.

The announcement was moved up this year to “respond more actively and agilely to a fast-changing business environment and expedite the establishment of strategies for future growth,” said Hanwha Group.

Of the five affiliates whose leaders were changed or received a promotion, Hanwha Solutions and Hanwha E&C are among the three companies where chairman Kim began to serve as an unregistered director this spring.

Lee Koo-yung, former chief executive of Hanwha Solutions’ chemical unit has been appointed as the new chief executive for Q Cells, Hanwha Solutions’ solar panel business.

Lee’s position will be filled by Nam Ihyeon, head of the chemical unit’s polyolefin business. Kim Hee-cheul, former chief executive of Q Cells, will lead Hanwha General Chemical.

Hanwha Solutions, led by chairman Kim’s eldest son Kim Dong-kwan, was created after a merger of three companies – Hanwha Q Cells, Hanwha Chemical and Hanwha Advanced Materials – in January 2020. In September of the same year, Dong-kwan was promoted from vice president to president.

It is likely that Dong-kwan, as chief executive of Hanwha Solutions, influenced the decisions on the leadership changes, industry watchers said. Both Lee Koo-yung and Kim Hee-cheul are considered close allies of Dong-kwan.

Meanwhile, Choi Kwang-ho, chief executive of Hanwha E&C, has been promoted to vice chairman. The company said his promotion is attributed to the company’s improving financial performance and his leadership in shifting the company towards clean energy development. (Reporting by Sang-hee Park)