Hanwha Major Affiliates Strengthen Diversity and Expertise of Outside Directors

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] "The next 2 to 3 years will be a time of uncertainty during which the landscape of the entire industry will change. Even during this period, we must take the lead in overcoming crises as responsible members of society and walk the 'most Hanwha-like path' that leads a new paradigm of sustainable management." (Chairman Kim Seung-yeon, 2021 New Year's Address)

Major listed companies of Hanwha Group are consecutively recommending outside directors with expertise regardless of gender or age to proactively respond to the changing uncertain times. By reinforcing expertise and autonomy in this way, each company plans to continuously strengthen autonomous and responsible management centered on the board of directors.

Hanwha Group affiliates have been continuously striving to advance corporate governance according to Chairman Kim Seung-yeon's will. Since the dissolution of the Management Planning Office in 2018, each company has been establishing an independent management system based on the responsibility and autonomy of the CEO centered on the board of directors.

In particular, they are enhancing the independence and autonomy of board operations by excluding inside directors from the group, forming audit committees centered on outside directors, and increasing the diversity of outside directors. This year, by appointing outside directors with expertise regardless of gender or age, including female outside directors, they are further strengthening the independence and autonomy of board operations.

Hanwha Corporation, Hanwha Aerospace, Hanwha Life Insurance, and Hanwha Investment & Securities are strengthening diversity and expertise by appointing female outside directors.

Hanwha Corporation recommended Professor Park Sang-mi of the Department of International Studies at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies as an outside director at the board meeting on February 26. Professor Park Sang-mi, who has served as dean of the Graduate School of International and Area Studies at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies and chair of the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Evaluation Body, is expected to contribute to Hanwha Corporation's global business expansion.

Hanwha Aerospace plans to appoint two female outside directors, Professor Kim Hyun-jin of the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Seoul National University and Professor Lee Sun-hee of the School of Law at Sungkyunkwan University, on March 29.

Professor Kim Hyun-jin has expertise across Hanwha Aerospace’s business areas, including flight vehicle guidance and control technology, intelligent autonomous flight systems, and robotics and autonomous driving-related technologies.

Professor Lee Sun-hee is an expert in fair trade who has experience in courts, law firms, and government agency committees. She is expected to contribute to strengthening Hanwha Aerospace’s ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management, which ranked 5th globally in the defense industry anti-corruption index published recently by Transparency International.

Hanwha Life Insurance recommended Professor Lee In-sil of the Graduate School of Economics at Sogang University as an outside director at the board meeting on February 19. She is an expert in economics who has served as Commissioner of Statistics Korea and president of the Korean Economic Association.

Hanwha Investment & Securities held a board meeting on the 9th and recommended Professor Sunwoo Hye-jung (born 1980) of the Department of Business Administration at Korea National Open University as an outside director. Professor Sunwoo Hye-jung is a U.S. Certified Public Accountant and an expert in accounting audit, corporate governance, and credit evaluation.

Hanwha Solutions had already appointed a female outside director last year. Amanda Bush, appointed as an outside director at last year’s shareholders’ meeting, is a consultant in the energy and infrastructure sector at St. Augustine Capital Partners.

This year, Hanwha Solutions newly recommended Lee Han-joo, CEO of Bespin Global and a young entrepreneur in his 40s, as an outside director.

Lee Han-joo, CEO of Bespin Global, will advise on Hanwha Solutions’ IT-based new energy business promotion direction based on his extensive experience in successful global startups and startup investments.

In the case of Hanwha Solutions, besides Amanda Bush, they appointed Satoshi Shima, an overseas expert in the energy sector, as an outside director at the 2020 shareholders’ meeting. Satoshi Shima has long supported Masayoshi Son, president of Japan’s SoftBank, who is engaged in various businesses in ICT (Information and Communication Technology) as well as the energy sector.

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