Doosan's Park Jeong-won Makes Bold Moves for the Future Ahead of 130th Anniversary

[Korea Financial Times, Shin Haeju] For Park Jeong-won, Chairman of Doosan Group, 2025 has been a year when his characteristic tenacity truly shone. He has successfully overcome the arduous period following the market backlash that derailed the business structure reorganization plan he had staked the group's fate on, and is now preparing for a new leap forward.

Under the principle of "preparing for the future while solidifying the present with confidence forged through 130 years of history," Chairman Park Jeong-won has focused on strengthening fundamentals.

Dismantling 'holding company' to complete semiconductor value chain

In 2026, Doosan will mark its 130th anniversary since founding. Starting as Park Seung-jik Store in 1896, the company established Showa Kirin Beer corporation in 1933, then went through Dongyang Beer in 1948 and OB Beer in 1996 before changing its name to the current Doosan in 1998. Having transformed its foundation from consumer goods to heavy industry over more than half a century since its listing in 1973, Doosan is now passing through yet another inflection point.

This year in particular, the company has staked everything on securing investment flexibility by relinquishing the holding company status it had maintained for the past 16 years. It determined that the holding company structure, which it had preemptively adopted in 2009 ahead of other conglomerates, had instead become an obstacle to mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and timely investments.

On December 17, Doosan was selected as the preferred bidder to acquire SK Siltron, securing the 70.6% stake held directly and indirectly by SK. This marks the fruition of Chairman Park Jeong-won's vision from three years ago when he stated during the Tesna acquisition in 2022 that "semiconductors are Doosan's new battleground."

With this, Doosan has established a value chain spanning semiconductor wafers (SK Siltron), materials (Electronics BG), and testing (Doosan Tesna), laying the foundation to transform from a traditional machinery company into an advanced materials group.

Doosan Enerbility also secured investment funds through preemptive asset sales. Following the listing of Czech subsidiary Doosan Skoda Power early this year, which raised KRW 150 billion, it sold Vietnamese entity Doosan Vina for KRW 290 billion, securing a total of KRW 440 billion. These funds will be reinvested in expanding facilities for core businesses such as SMR (Small Modular Reactors) and gas turbines.

Emphasizing 'AI ecosystem'... collaboration with NVIDIA

Chairman Park Jeong-won has emphasized the importance of artificial intelligence (AI), stressing that "we must build Doosan's unique AI ecosystem." Indeed, Doosan Corporation's Electronics BG is collaborating on NVIDIA Physical AI.

The plan is to secure an optimized, customized foundation model by combining the vast field data Doosan possesses in construction, machinery, power generation equipment, and robotics with NVIDIA's AI technology.

Doosan Enerbility finalized a contract worth approximately KRW 5.6 trillion to supply main equipment, turbines, and generators for Units 5 and 6 of the Czech Dukovany nuclear power plant, while also securing orders for main equipment for 16 units from X-energy in the United States in the SMR sector.

Doosan Fuel Cell realized its ambition to preempt the next-generation energy market as its Saemangeum Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) plant entered full-scale mass production in the third quarter. The company has been assessed as enhancing the completeness of its hydrogen portfolio by launching a full-scale offensive on the North American data center market led by its U.S. subsidiary HyAxiom.

Market cap 'jumps' threefold in one year

Chairman Park Jeong-won's management performance is also confirmed by metrics. Doosan's long-term credit rating was upgraded to 'BBB+' last June, driven by improved profits in the electronics business division and strong performance by subsidiaries.

According to FnGuide consensus, Doosan Corporation's consolidated revenue is projected to reach KRW 19.6 trillion this year. This represents an approximately 8% increase from the previous year, with operating profit expected to record KRW 1,274.3 billion, up 27%.

According to the Korea Exchange Information Data System, Doosan Corporation's market capitalization increased more than threefold from KRW 4.38 trillion on January 2 this year to KRW 14.19 trillion on November 28. As of December 23, the combined market capitalization of Doosan Group's seven listed companies totaled KRW 76,210.1 billion, ranking 9th among South Korea's 43 major business groups.

Chairman Park Jeong-won's term as CEO of Doosan Corporation runs until March 2027. Following the tradition where the chairman of the board serves as group chairman, speculation is emerging that next year may be his last as group chairman.

An industry official stated, "(Chairman Park Jeong-won) has transformed Doosan from a company that sold textiles and brewed beer into a high-tech enterprise that manufactures core materials for AI servers and builds next-generation nuclear power plants."

Shin Haeju (hjs0509@fntimes.com)