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Hanwha chairman marks 40th year in management
By Kim Hyun-bin
Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn’s managerial capabilities have been highlighted recently as he marks the 40th anniversary of leading the country’s seventh-largest conglomerate.
“Hanwha’s growth and innovative success were made possible by the Hanwha family all coming together,” Kim said during a company broadcast, Monday. “With a dauntless challenging spirit, Hanwha will set sail to become a 100 year old company.”
Hanwha Group has found great success under Kim’s leadership. Its total assets have grown from 754.8 billion won when he was inaugurated in 1980 to more than 217 trillion won today. Sales rose from 1.1 trillion won to 65.4 trillion won over the same period. The industry positively views Kim’s market insight and challenging spirit which produced outstanding results for the conglomerate.
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| Kim Seung-youn |
Acquisitions have become the core of Hanwha Group’s success, and best represent Kim’s endeavors. After being appointed to head Hanwha Group, the second global oil shock rattled markets. But amid the turmoil, Kim stepped forward to acquire Hanyang Chemical and Dow Chemical Korea and turned them into one of the country’s leading petrochemical exporting businesses.
Following the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Hanwha acquired Daehan Life Insurance that was struggling to meet ends meet in 2002 and turned it into a 127 trillion won insurance company. In 2012, Hanwha acquired German Q Cells that was on the verge of bankruptcy and made it into a global top tier solar panel manufacturer.
In 2015, Hanwha initiated a big deal by acquiring four companies including Samsung’s defense manufacturing and petrochemical units in a deal that shocked the industry for its magnitude at the time. With the acquisition of the defense company, Hanwha evolved into the country’s leading defense manufacturer with sales of over 20 trillion won. As a result, Hanwha became the seventh-largest conglomerate in the country.
Swift global expansion has become another key pillar of growth. In 1981, Hanwha had only seven overseas branches. But the number has increased to 469 generating global sales of 16.7 trillion won in 2020.
In a word of encouragement to employees, Kim once said, “Instead of a bird trying to secure its nest, learn the survival instincts of a migratory bird that roams around continents to find food.” Which signifies his determination to find new growth engines regardless of location.
Hanwha is continuously investing in brands that better represent Korea in the global arena. In the defense sector, the K9 howitzer and Redback infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) have been exported globally and the solar panel business has dominated the markets in the U.S., Europe and Japan.
Chairman Kim’s management philosophy is characterized by “credibility and loyalty” which have aided Hanwha’s leap towards success for the past 40 years.
Special thanks and grievances were provided for the Cheonan Warship victims, the 2010 deadly sinking of a South Korean warship by North Korea, by hiring bereaved family members to work for Hanwha, and secretly aiding Robert Kim, the 64-year old Korean American convicted of handing out some 30 classified confidential military documents to a South Korean mission in Washington in 1996.
During Asian financial crisis, it was top priority to maintain job security for Hanwha staff and the chairman is known for air delivering sushi for construction employees dispatched to Iraq after finding out the delicacy was the most wanted food of choice among the staff situated in the middle of the desert.
His role as a private diplomat based on his vast global connections is also noteworthy. In June 2000, Kim was first to be appointed as the Chairman of Korea-US Exchange Council building relations with former U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
Now, the chairman is eyeing new growth engines in space, future mobility and eco-friendly energy, smart defense and digital financial solution sectors.
Kim Seung-youn’s leadership turns Hanwha into an empire
Source: Buhay Kapa PH
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