Choi Jae-won Returns as CEO of SK On... Takes Charge of Battery Business Management

Board Meeting and Extraordinary General Meeting Held on the 17th
Choi Jaewon’s Growth Strategy and Global Business
Co-CEO System with CEO Jidongseop
Strengthening Commitment to Future Growth and Innovation with 9 New Executives

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] Choi Jae-won, Senior Vice Chairman of SK Group, is returning as CEO of SK On. Alongside CEO Ji Dong-seop, they will operate under a dual CEO system, signaling a direct focus on the group's core business of electric vehicle batteries. Contrary to earlier expectations that he would return as chairman of the board, Senior Vice Chairman Choi will handle management, while Kim Joon, Vice Chairman of SK Innovation, will serve as chairman of the board, reestablishing a governance structure that separates management and board chairmanship.

On the morning of the 17th, SK On held a board meeting and an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders, where they resolved to appoint Senior Vice Chairman Choi as an inside director and co-CEO. SK On, which launched as an independent corporation on October 1, is a specialized electric vehicle battery company and a 100% subsidiary of SK Innovation.

From this day forward, Senior Vice Chairman Choi will serve as co-CEO alongside President Ji. Choi will be responsible for growth strategy and global networking, while President Ji is expected to oversee overall management. The chairmanship of SK On’s board will remain with Vice Chairman Kim as before.

Senior Vice Chairman Choi has consistently participated in key battery business events, including groundbreaking ceremonies at battery production plants in Seosan, Chungnam; Changzhou, China; Kom?rom, Hungary; and Georgia, USA, as well as the test drive event of ‘BlueOn,’ Korea’s first high-speed electric vehicle equipped with SK batteries, thereby strengthening the battery business.

With Senior Vice Chairman Choi’s return, SK On’s overseas investment and sales are also expected to gain momentum. Currently, SK On’s annual battery production capacity is about 40 gigawatt-hours, and the company is making large-scale investments in the global electric vehicle markets of the United States, Europe, and China to increase this capacity to 220 gigawatt-hours by 2025 and 500 gigawatt-hours by 2030. Additionally, SK On is diversifying battery application fields such as energy storage systems (ESS), urban air mobility (UAM), and robotics to expand its supply market.

Earlier, SK Innovation’s board held an expanded personnel evaluation and compensation committee meeting attended by all outside directors, where they highly evaluated Senior Vice Chairman Choi’s early focus on the future growth potential of the battery business, his leadership in business planning and investment expansion, and his global business acumen and network developed through roles as CEO of key affiliates and chairman of the group’s global committee.

An SK On official stated, "This appointment reflects the company’s intention to nurture the battery business, which is entering a critical growth phase, as a core growth engine of SK Group through responsible management by Senior Vice Chairman Choi, who is also a major shareholder of the group, and to develop SK On into a global top company in the battery sector."

On the same day, SK On also carried out executive appointments and organizational restructuring. Six new executives were appointed, and nine executives were recruited from affiliates and related companies, demonstrating a commitment to future growth and innovation. To establish a full-scale global mass production system and ensure stable product supply, the battery manufacturing-related organization was strengthened, and dedicated regional teams were newly established. In the R&D sector, organizational restructuring was implemented to reinforce advanced research on future battery materials.

Senior Vice Chairman Choi said, "We will rapidly grow SK On to accelerate SK Group’s decarbonization strategy and contribute to the expansion of the global electric vehicle and battery service markets, thereby providing new value to consumers."

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