Honorary Chairman Chung Mong-koo Completely Steps Down from Hyundai Motor Group Management

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] Chung Mong-koo, Honorary Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, is officially stepping down from group management as he resigns from his last remaining registered director position at Hyundai Mobis.

According to business circles on the 21st, Honorary Chairman Chung is expected to relinquish his registered director position at the Hyundai Mobis shareholders' meeting scheduled for the 24th of next month.

Although Honorary Chairman Chung's term as an inside director at Hyundai Mobis runs until March next year, it appears he has decided to step down before completing his term since Chung Eui-sun, Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, is actively leading the overall group operations. Following Honorary Chairman Chung's resignation, Go Young-seok, Executive Director and Head of R&D Planning and Operations, has been recommended for the vacant inside director position. This is the first time an executive director-level officer has been recommended as an inside director, reflecting a consideration of expertise.

Earlier, Hyundai Motor's board of directors did not propose a reappointment of Honorary Chairman Chung as an inside director in February last year, and Honorary Chairman Chung handed over the chairmanship to Chung Eui-sun, then Senior Vice Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, at the board meeting held immediately after the March shareholders' meeting last year, ending his 21-year tenure as chairman.

Honorary Chairman Chung maintained only his non-registered executive position at Hyundai Motor and registered director position at Hyundai Mobis, and in October, he passed the group chairman position to his son and was appointed honorary chairman. At that time, Honorary Chairman Chung also stepped down from his CEO position at Hyundai Mobis.

However, since Chairman Chung Eui-sun took over as Senior Vice Chairman in September 2018 and has been leading the overall group management in place of Honorary Chairman Chung, and has been discussing management with him before and after his appointment as chairman, the transformation into a future mobility solutions group is expected to proceed without disruption.

Honorary Chairman Chung is the figure who built Hyundai Motor Group into the world's fifth-largest automotive group, becoming Hyundai Motor Chairman in 1998 and then Chairman of the Board in March 1999.

In 2000, after a 'prince's rebellion' struggle for the legitimate succession with his late younger brother Chung Mong-hun, former Hyundai Group Chairman, he took only Hyundai Motor affiliates out. At the time of the split from Hyundai Group, it was ranked fifth in the business world after Samsung, Hyundai, LG, and SK, but currently Hyundai Motor Group firmly holds the second position after Samsung.

In particular, Honorary Chairman Chung led the company for over 20 years, leaving behind keywords such as 'quality management' and 'field management.' He established the Namyang Research Center, the group's R&D headquarters, securing core technologies, and was the first Korean inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in the United States.

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