SK Shifts Focus From Batteries to AI and Chips as Top Executives Gather at SK hynix

[Korea Financial Times, Gwak Horyung] SK Group’s key talent is gathering around SK hynix. Among the owner family, Senior Vice Chairman Chey Jae-won has moved to SK Square, the parent company of SK hynix, while three professional-manager vice chairmen have been reassigned to SK hynix.

As the group’s business center of gravity shifts to AI (artificial intelligence) and semiconductors, attention is turning to whether the group’s regular reshuffle will also reflect the change.

SK Group is expected to carry out its 2027 regular reshuffle as early as mid-October. The group used to hold its annual reshuffle in December, but moved it up to late October starting last year.
The aim is to have new CEOs (chief executive officers) take part from the SK CEO Seminar held in November, shaping next year’s management strategy, after which each affiliate follows up with subsequent executive appointments and organizational changes. The structure has shifted so that new management is directly involved in drawing up next year’s business plans, rather than waiting for year-end reorganizations.

The weight of this year’s reshuffle is likely to fall on AI and semiconductors. After large-scale investments in future businesses such as batteries increased its financial burden, SK Group has pursued rebalancing, including business sales, consolidations and investment adjustments.

In particular, the group focused on securing financial capacity by adjusting the pace and scale of investment, centered on the battery business. As the restructuring enters its final stage, the focus of large-scale investment and talent deployment is also shifting to semiconductors.

SK hynix is expanding beyond memory chips into AI infrastructure. It recently restructured its U.S. operations and plans to set up a separate entity overseeing its local AI business, with a view to targeting the AI infrastructure market. The move is interpreted as an effort to capture not only high-value memory such as HBM (high bandwidth memory) but also business opportunities tied to data center construction, as investment in AI data centers expands.

The possibility of expanding overseas production bases also remains open. SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won recently said in an interview with foreign media, “We are reviewing the establishment of semiconductor production facilities in Japan.” With Japan now being mentioned as a candidate production site after the United States, external cooperation and investment decision-making surrounding SK hynix’s overseas business are growing in importance.
Against this backdrop, Senior Vice Chairman Chey Jae-won’s role has also changed. In January this year, he left SK Innovation and moved to SK Square, the parent company of SK hynix.

SK Square is an investment company that holds a stake in SK hynix and is in charge of investments in future industries, including AI and semiconductors.

Given that Senior Vice Chairman Chey previously led SK’s battery business and drove global investment and business expansion, observers say he is likely to be involved in investment strategy and global business development in AI and semiconductors as well.

Professional-manager vice chairmen of the group have joined SK hynix.

Last month, Vice Chairmen Seo Jin-woo, Yoo Jeong-joon and Lee Hyung-hee moved from SK Inc. to SK hynix. Of the six vice chairmen of SK Group, excluding the owner-managers, Senior Vice Chairman Chey and Vice Chairman Chey Chang-won, four are professional managers. Of these, all but Vice Chairman Jang Dong-hyun of SK ecoplant, three in total, have moved to SK hynix.

What the three vice chairmen have in common is expertise in global business and external relations rather than semiconductor technology. The appointments are interpreted as an effort to strengthen their roles in negotiation, external cooperation and coordination of investment processes with local governments and companies, as SK hynix expands overseas business, including in the U.S., and widens its production footprint.

Vice Chairman Seo Jin-woo’s strength is his experience in China. After serving as CEO of SK Telecom and SK Planet, he oversaw the group’s China business. He is known to have been involved in consultations with local authorities regarding the Dalian production base in China during SK hynix’s acquisition of Intel’s NAND business. Given his experience in coordinating the interests of semiconductor production bases and local governments, a role is expected for him as overseas production bases expand.

Vice Chairman Yoo Jeong-joon’s strength lies in the U.S. business. After serving as CEO of SK E&S, he oversaw the group’s Americas business, and while serving as CEO of SK On, he handled capital investment and external cooperation in the U.S. In particular, he led SK On at a time when cooperation with the U.S. government and expansion of local investment were critical. He is regarded as someone who can draw on his local network as SK hynix expands its AI infrastructure business in the U.S.

Vice Chairman Lee Hyung-hee has broad experience in telecommunications and external relations. He served as head of business at SK Telecom and CEO of SK Broadband, and at the SK SUPEX Council he chaired both the Committee on Social Value and the Communications Committee. Having handled group-level external messaging and stakeholder relations, in addition to directly leading individual businesses, he may take on a role as overseas business expands.

Within SK hynix, a promotion of CEO Kwak Noh-jung (president) to vice chairman is also being steadily discussed. A semiconductor engineer by background, Kwak has risen through production and technology roles and now leads SK hynix’s overall business. A structure is possible in which he retains his current role overseeing technology, production and business execution, amid intensifying competition in memory including HBM, while the newly joined vice chairmen support global business and external cooperation.

If Kwak’s promotion materializes, SK hynix’s management structure could change as well. The top management responsible for technology and business would be joined by vice chairmen with global and external-relations experience, while Senior Vice Chairman Chey Jae-won would take on a role in group-level investment. This can be read as a personnel arrangement aimed at expanding the group’s semiconductor and AI business around SK hynix.

The scale of the reshuffle among presidents (sajang-level executives) may not be large. This is because CEO changes at major affiliates continued from last year through early this year. SK Square is now led by President Kim Jung-kyu, SK Telecom by President Jung Jai-hun, SK Innovation by President Jang Yong-ho and SKC by President Kim Jong-woo.

Since a large-scale CEO turnover has already taken place, this year’s emphasis is likely to fall on reviewing the business execution capabilities of existing management rather than on further replacements. A variable is SK Inc., which President Jang Yong-ho holds concurrently. Jang leads both SK Innovation and SK Inc., and his term as SK Inc. CEO runs until the 2027 regular shareholders’ meeting.

Gwak Horyung (horr@fntimes.com)