Hanwha chief’s eldest son nominated as vice chairman

Kim Dong-kwan, the eldest son of Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn, has been tentatively promoted to the group’s vice chairman as he is expected to take on a bigger role in the group’s management, Hanwha Group said Monday.

The decision came about a year after the 38-year-old became the CEO of Hanwha Solutions, the group’s company with business areas in multinational energy services, petrochemical and real estate in September 2021.

According to the announcement, Kim has also been tapped to take the CEO positions at Hanwha Corporation and Hanwha Aerospace. It said the Hanwha heir will play the role of realizing the chairman’s management vision as the group pushes for future businesses as well as strengthening the responsibility of environmental, social and governance factors as an important shareholder. On top of the promotions, Kim will continue to stay as the CEO of Hanwha Solutions.

Hanwha said Kim’s promotion to vice chairman was the recognition of his proven expertise in business strategies and global capabilities as he has actively discovered future growth engines and invested in them. The group added that Kim played a big role in the growth of Hanwha Solutions and Q Cell as market leaders in the US and Europe.

Along with Kim’s promotion, Hanwha also announced the internal decisions to welcome new CEOs and position upgrades at nine subsidiaries including Hanwha Engineering and Construction and Hanwha H2 Energy.

The tentative promotions will be finalized once they are approved at each company’s general shareholders’ meeting and board of directors meeting.

By Kan Hyeong-woo (hwkan@heraldcorp.com)