SK On appoints Jin Gyo-won, manufacturing expert from Hynix, as president; establishes Chief Operating Officer position

Top Expert in Manufacturing within the Group
Responsible for Overall Operations Optimization, Development, and Production

Jin Gyowon, the new Chief Operating Officer (COO) of SK On. Photo by SK On

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghoon Jeong] SK On announced on the 1st that it has established the position of Chief Operating Officer (COO) and recruited President Jin Gyowon, who has been in charge of development and manufacturing at SK Hynix.

Under the COO, a reorganization was also carried out placing key business departments such as operations optimization, marketing, global production technology, global manufacturing, research institute, procurement, and next-generation batteries.

Jin, who worked at SK Hynix until the 31st of last month, is a traditional engineer. He played a major role in growing SK Hynix into the world's top semiconductor manufacturing company by overseeing all aspects of semiconductor production including development, mass production, and quality. In recognition of these achievements, he was selected as a full member of the Korea Academy of Engineering, the most prestigious engineering organization in Korea, at the end of last year.

SK On established the COO position and reorganized the organization to increase collaboration efficiency between departments and quickly respond to customer demands to enhance product competitiveness. This means not only optimizing production and supply by improving yield but also meeting customer expectations in line with market changes.

Jin COO is considered the best fit for this COO position as he has accumulated diverse experience across the entire business including manufacturing, marketing, and planning.

SK On is one of the rapidly growing companies in the global battery industry. Its market share ranking has soared from 9th in 2019 to 5th currently. As the business expands, production bases have extended to the United States, Hungary, China, and others, with a total of seven plants in operation, and seven more plants are either under construction or planned.

The growth trend is expected to be even steeper going forward. Battery production capacity is projected to reach about 77 gigawatt-hours (GWh) by the end of this year. Compared to 1.7 GWh in 2017, this represents a 45-fold increase in about five years. Production capacity is expected to increase to 220 GWh by 2025 and 500 GWh by 2030.

Sales, which were about 690 billion KRW in 2019, are expected to exceed 7 trillion KRW this year, more than 10 times in just three years. Due to rapid growth, a more organic cooperation system between organizations has become necessary. This is the background for recruiting COO Jin.

COO Jin said, "I will do my best to ensure that the entire organization functions organically toward one goal and that we can become the best battery company."

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