Appointing a Vice President Born in 1970... The 'Samsung Leadership' Gets Younger (Comprehensive)

Samsung Electronics Executive Personnel Changes
162 Promotions Including Vice Presidents Choi Yong-hoon, Choi Won-jun, Kim Woo-jun, and Shim Sang-pil
Pursuing 'Change Within Stability'... Maintaining Policy to Expand Foreign and Female Executives

(From left) Samsung Electronics, Choi Yong-hoon, Vice President and Head of LED Development Group, Visual Display Business Division; Choi Won-jun, Vice President and Head of Strategic Product Development Team 1, Wireless Business Division; Kim Woo-jun, Vice President and Head of North America BM Group, Network Business Division; Shim Sang-pil, Vice President and Head of Foundry Manufacturing Technology Center, Giheung/Hwaseong/Pyeongtaek Complex.

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Samsung Electronics' generational shift is accelerating. Through the executive reshuffle on the 20th, which separated the IM division's wireless business unit to pursue "change within stability," the company further strengthened its future CEO candidate pool by appointing a large number of young talents in the executive personnel changes carried out on the 21st. Along with the promotion of vice presidents born in the 1970s, 24 individuals were promoted based on performance and ability regardless of age or tenure, marking a significant number of 'selected appointments.'

Samsung Electronics announced that it promoted a total of 162 executives in the 2020 personnel reshuffle. Although the number of promoted executives is fewer than the 221 at the end of 2017, it is higher than the 158 at the end of 2018. By rank, there are 14 vice presidents, 42 senior vice presidents, 88 general managers, 3 fellows, and 15 masters.

The vice presidents promoted include Choi Yong-hoon, Head of the LED Development Group at the Visual Display Business Division; Choi Won-jun, Head of Strategic Product Development Team 1 at the Wireless Business Division; Kim Woo-jun, Head of the Americas BM Group at the Network Business Division; Kim Jin-hae, Head of the Korea IM Sales Team; Song Jae-hyuk, Head of the Flash PA Team at the Memory Business Division; Choi Jin-hyuk, Head of the Design Platform Development Office at the Memory Business Division; Shim Sang-pil, Head of the Foundry Manufacturing Technology Center at the Giheung, Hwaseong, and Pyeongtaek complexes; Jeong Ki-tae, Head of PA2 Team at the Foundry Business Division; Shin Yoo-gyun, Head of the Flash TD Team at the Semiconductor Research Institute; and Yang Jang-gyu, Head of the Production Technology Research Institute. Samsung Electronics explained, "By promoting young leaders who combine management performance and growth potential to vice president, we have strengthened the pool of future CEO candidates."

Choi Yong-hoon, one of Samsung Electronics' top display development experts in the Visual Display Business Division's LED Development Group, led the development of next-generation TV form factors such as Cinema LED and 'The Wall,' contributing to solidifying Samsung's leadership in the TV market, earning him a place on the vice president promotion list.

The youngest vice president promoted, Choi Won-jun, is an expert in mobile devices and chipset development. He commercialized the world's first 5G (5th generation communication) device and contributed to enhancing Samsung's technological leadership by timely launching the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy Note10 series. The title of the youngest vice president ever goes to President Noh Tae-moon, who was appointed head of the smartphone wireless business division the day before.

Kim Woo-jun, Head of the Americas BM Group at the Network Business Division, led new business entry into the U.S. and the discovery of 5G commercial service models, while Kim Jin-hae, Head of the Korea IM Sales Team, led differentiated 5G marketing and expanded sales of flagship product lines. In the foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) business division, Shim Sang-pil, Head of the Foundry Manufacturing Technology Center at the Giheung, Hwaseong, and Pyeongtaek complexes, was promoted to vice president for improving manufacturing technology and maximizing mass production competitiveness.

In this personnel reshuffle, Samsung Electronics promoted 24 talented individuals based on capability regardless of age or tenure, which is three times the number compared to May 2017. Among them, 13 were promoted to senior vice president or higher. Moon Jun, Senior Vice President and Head of the Network Business Division's System Design Group, is a wireless communication technology expert for base stations who led the world's first 5G commercial launch, contributing to the competitiveness of the network business and enhancing the company's technological status.

As part of efforts to strengthen diversity, the company maintained an open-door policy for foreign and female executives, appointing nine foreign and female executives this year. The youngest senior vice president and general manager are foreigners. Pranav Mistry, Senior Vice President of Samsung Research America (SRA), and Matthieu Apotheker, General Manager of the Management Support Office, were both born in 1981 (39 years old).

Additionally, Kim Seung-yeon, General Manager of the Wireless Business Division's Marketing Team, was highly evaluated for enhancing the Galaxy brand and consumer awareness through differentiated targeting of media by product group and storytelling-style communication.

Samsung Electronics explained, "We strengthened the status of the top technology company by appointing three fellows and 15 masters, who are top experts representing the company's technological capabilities in research and development." The number of fellows and masters appointed increased from seven in May 2017 to 18 in this reshuffle.

Following the executive reshuffle on the previous day, Samsung Electronics completed the management personnel changes with this executive reshuffle and plans to finalize organizational restructuring and position appointments soon.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.