[People人] MZ Generation Representative's Management Debut... Beyond Araha Hangeul to 'Uju'

-Kim Yeon-su, CEO of Hancom


Kim Sang-chul, Chairman of Hancom Group's eldest daughter
Large-scale share acquisition without comprehensive succession
Proving capability through M&A and sales growth
Launching satellite 'Sejong 1' next year
Declares leadership in video data field

"Hangeul and Computer Group will set a new milestone in the field of video data through satellite launches," stated Kim Yeon-su, CEO of Hangeul and Computer and eldest daughter of Kim Sang-cheol, Chairman of Hancom Group, expressing her ambitious vision on the 2nd. Making her first official appearance since her appointment last month, she appeared with a short haircut and casual attire. At 38 years old, CEO Kim represents the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z) young leaders. Although slightly nervous, she showed confidence in Hancom Group's new business ventures.

Early Entry into Management

CEO Kim earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from Boston University in the U.S. and later obtained a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Babson College Graduate School. After graduation, she took her first step into society in 2006 by joining Wijit, a semiconductor manufacturing company where Chairman Kim had served as chairman. Wijit became the foundation of what is now Hancom Group. Later, in 2008, she gained overseas investment experience by listing a SPAC on NASDAQ for the first time in Korea alongside Chairman Kim.

CEO Kim has demonstrated her capabilities in driving new business initiatives by leading major mergers and acquisitions (M&A) for Hancom Group. She has been responsible for Hancom Group’s M&A activities including Hancom MDS, Hancom Carelink, and Hancom Frontis. She also played a leading role in acquiring Hancom Inspace, a space and drone specialized company, which is now in charge of the satellite business. Additionally, she serves as CEO and Chairperson of the Board of iText Group, a PDF company headquartered in Belgium, directly managing its operations. Under her leadership for three years, the company’s sales and operating profits have more than tripled.

Furthermore, the private equity firm Datoz, where CEO Kim serves as CEO, has expanded its investment scope as its assets under management (AUM) surpassed 80 billion KRW. CEO Kim’s unique succession method at Hancom has also attracted attention. Through ‘HCIH,’ newly established by Datoz, she executed a 50 billion KRW acquisition of Hancom shares. She personally raised investment funds by conducting investor relations (IR) activities. CEO Kim explained, "Unlike the typical comprehensive asset succession, I fully purchased shares based on the valuation reflecting Hancom’s future value."

First Steps into Aerospace Business

The company, which grew around the Korean word processor ‘Araeah Hangeul,’ has boldly invested in new businesses to improve its structure. There is speculation that CEO Kim will begin to build solid performance starting with the aerospace business.

Hancom Group plans to launch ‘Sejong-1,’ a small Earth observation satellite, early next year. It will be the first launch by a private Korean company. Following Sejong-1, Hancom Group intends to sequentially launch satellites up to the fifth unit and, depending on business growth, operate a constellation of more than 50 satellites. Using the images and data collected from these satellites, the group aims to provide integrated information services in fields such as agriculture and disaster management. The plan is to target the video data market, expected to reach 100 trillion KRW in 2024, as a future growth engine. CEO Kim emphasized, "The video data business will be one of the major pillars of Hancom Group’s new businesses."

Hancom is also expanding its territory into the cloud sector. Having recognized the cloud market early, CEO Kim has worked to expand the market for Hancom Gureum, an open-source operating system, since her appointment. She has achieved strategic partnerships with domestic cloud companies such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Naver Cloud. Recently, she has been contemplating strategies to expand cloud-based document services.

With CEO Kim, a member of the MZ generation, taking office, internal changes are also underway at Hancom. After becoming co-CEO, she shared Hancom’s future growth strategies with employees through the non-face-to-face ‘Hancom-Lan Line Day.’ She received great responses by answering questions immediately via anonymous chat. CEO Kim also introduced a pilot system of addressing employees without ranks, using ‘nim’ as an honorific to increase communication and foster a horizontal organizational culture. The future trajectory of Hancom, led by a young leader and moving beyond ‘Araeah Hangeul’ toward a new leap, is drawing attention.

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