Kim Jeonghwan Appointed as New CEO of SanDanGong: "Must Become a Base for Innovation"

Passed the 33rd Administrative Examination and Former Director General of Planning and Coordination at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Kim Jeong-hwan, President of Korea Industrial Complex Corporation

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daeseop] Kim Jeonghwan, the newly appointed chairman of the Korea Industrial Complex Corporation (KICOX), held an inauguration ceremony at the Daegu Industrial Complex Corporation headquarters on the 19th and officially began his duties.

In his inaugural speech, Chairman Kim stated, "The acceleration of the 4th Industrial Revolution has brought changes to the industrial structure, and the global low growth and the spread of protectionism worldwide demand new transformations and roles for industrial complexes and KICOX." He added, "Industrial complexes must become forward bases for creating new industries and innovating manufacturing."

Chairman Kim expressed a strong will for change, saying, "KICOX must transform into an industrial promotion institution trusted and loved by companies and the public."

Considering the serious situation related to the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), this inauguration ceremony was replaced by a video conference.

Chairman Kim urged that utmost efforts be made in quarantine and support to minimize the damage to industrial complexes and resident companies caused by the spread of COVID-19. He also requested, "Based on KICOX’s experience and strength as a specialized institution for industrial complexes, let us steadily and firmly build the path of innovation and change with the spirit of 'Wisanilgwe (?山一?)'."

Chairman Kim set goals including ▲ actively promoting the grand renovation of industrial complexes ▲ strengthening support to solve economic issues such as manufacturing innovation and job creation ▲ and becoming a key institution to resolve difficulties in industrial sites.

He emphasized, "The grand renovation of industrial complexes requires collaboration among various innovation actors and the gathering of nationwide capabilities to make industrial complexes leading hubs for innovation creation. KICOX should play the role of a support tower for industrial promotion policies while newly establishing its functions centered on industrial promotion and corporate support."

He continued, "To respond to the digital economy era and solve national economic issues such as manufacturing innovation and job creation, we must achieve visible results of smart industrial complexes early. Let us also do our best to advance the industrial ecosystem and secure growth engines for companies through bold regulatory reforms and support for joint innovation activities among companies."

Chairman Kim also urged leveraging KICOX’s strengths. He said, "KICOX is at the closest point to industrial sites by strengthening on-site communication to resolve corporate difficulties and providing citizen-participatory, on-site, close services that jointly design and operate customer support services. We will utilize these strengths to build a unique brand as a successful partner and problem solver for companies."

He emphasized, "For KICOX’s sustainable growth, it must be an organization always awake to customers’ voices, an organization that cooperates to create synergy, and a clean organization trusted and loved by the public. We will establish an organizational culture of communication, cooperation, and integrity."

Immediately after the inauguration ceremony, Chairman Kim visited the Gumi National Industrial Complex Quarantine Support Center. He inspected the site supporting quarantine for resident companies and encouraged frontline employees.

Born in 1967, Chairman Kim graduated from Seoul National University with a degree in economics and earned his master's and doctorate degrees in economics from the University of Missouri, USA. He began his public service career at the Ministry of Industry and Resources after passing the 33rd Administrative Examination. He has held positions such as Director General of Information and Communication at the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, Planning and Coordination Officer at the Small and Medium Business Administration, Director of Industrial Technology Policy and System Industry Policy, and spokesperson at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and served as the Director General of Planning and Coordination at the Ministry of Industry.

He is known as an expert well-versed in overall industrial policy, demonstrating excellent planning capabilities including promoting the smartization of industrial complexes to realize the manufacturing renaissance vision, with profound knowledge and experience in Korea’s major industries such as semiconductors, displays, automobiles, robots, and shipbuilding.

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