[Column] Why We Need to Reflect on Chey Tae-won's "Harmony" Remark

Choi Tae-won, chairman of SK Group and head of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, presented the themes of "tuning" and "harmony" as his first agenda of the new year, Gapjin year. On the 2nd, at the New Year's meeting of business leaders, he told reporters, "Both management and operation need to be well tuned," adding, "It means to achieve good harmony." This was distinctly different from his avoidance of direct answers regarding the market conditions of SK Group's major revenue industries, high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and NAND flash.

His themes attract attention because they are the most "accurate" expressions when looking at the situation of not only SK Group but also the Korean industrial sector in the new year.

At the end of last year, SK Group made personnel changes by appointing Choi Chang-won, CEO and Vice Chairman of SK Discovery, as chairman of the highest decision-making body, the SUPEX Council, following the resignation of the vice chairman. This was seen as an effort to strengthen generational change in management and reinforce responsible management by the owner family.

The "tuning" and "harmony" that Chairman Choi raised are essential words for companies to achieve results this year. Regarding the meaning of choosing "tuning," Choi explained, "It means to organize well," adding, "Organizing does not mean cutting someone off, but rather to achieve good harmony." In other words, detailed adjustments (tuning) that can create harmony are necessary to stabilize the organization and produce results.

Chairman Choi's remarks are unlikely to be limited to SK Group alone. Other major companies also made personnel changes emphasizing generational change by appointing many executives in their 40s at the end of last year. Based on last year's personnel moves, achieving organizational stability along with performance is a concern for all companies.

Although messages from CEOs are pouring in this year, the keywords are largely similar. They aim to strengthen competitiveness and lay the foundation for a leap forward. At the government level, killer regulation reforms and three major reforms including labor are urgent tasks. All these topics are impossible without discussions among stakeholders and social grand compromises. It is necessary to create an atmosphere from now on where the attitude of accepting "harmony and tuning" can continue throughout the year.

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