Unifying as S-Class Talent... Steering Daedong Group's Future Business

Daedong Gear Appoints Former Hyundai Motor Overseas Executive as CEO
Top Experts Including Choi Jungki in AI and Yeo Jungoo in Robotics Join the Leadership Team

Daedong, which is promoting future agriculture projects, is continuously recruiting top-tier 'S-class experts.' Specialists from various fields, ranging from artificial intelligence (AI) to robotics and automobiles, have taken key positions within the group. Daedong, marking this year as the inaugural year to fully realize its future vision, is focusing its efforts on priority projects through the infusion of external talent.

According to Daedong Group on the 28th, Daedong Gear, a listed affiliate, appointed former Hyundai Motor executive Seojonghwan as its new CEO yesterday. CEO Seo is an 'overseas expert' who worked at Hyundai Motor for 30 years, gaining experience in overseas subsidiaries and the global channel strategy office across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the United States. Through CEO Seo’s recruitment, Daedong Gear is expected to strengthen its electric powertrain business and discover new overseas partners.

Daedong Gear is a core affiliate of Daedong Group that manufactures internal combustion engine power transmission parts for automobiles, industrial machinery, and agricultural machinery. It supplies transmissions, which form the backbone of tractors, combines, and rice transplanters to Daedong. Since last year, it has aggressively expanded its business portfolio by signing a supply contract worth 1.4234 trillion KRW for hybrid and electric vehicle parts with Hyundai Motor and Hyundai Transys.

CEO Yeo Jung-gu

This is not the first time Daedong has recruited S-class external talent. In February this year, Dr. Yeo Jungoo, a world-renowned authority in robotics, was appointed as CEO of Daedong Robotics. CEO Yeo is a lifetime member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the world’s largest technical society, and has served as program chair of the International Robotics Society, founding director of the KAIST Robotics Institute, and director of the Korea Institute of Robot Convergence, making him a leading scholar in the field of robotics.

In September last year, Choi Jungki, who served as head of the AI Business Division at KT, joined Daedong AI Lab as CEO. He is an AI expert who successfully developed KT’s AI speaker ‘Giga Genie’ and led generative AI ‘Mideum,’ KT MyData, and AI call center businesses.

CEO Choi Jun-gi

Daedong’s continuous recruitment of external talent is interpreted as part of strengthening its future business capabilities. Since the appointment of CEO Won Yoohyun, a former KT executive, in 2020, Daedong has declared its vision as a ‘leading company in future agriculture’ and designated smart agricultural machinery, mobility, farms, robotics, and small construction equipment as its five future businesses. This year, it commercialized precision agriculture services prepared as part of its smart farm business and launched autonomous transport robots to open the robotics business sector. Ultimately, AI and robotics are the core of Daedong’s future business aimed at agricultural automation. The recruitment of CEOs Choi and Yeo is a strategic move to strengthen internal capabilities and accelerate new businesses through experts in these fields.

The joining of experts from each field also highlights Daedong’s external influence and the growth expectations for its future agriculture business. CEO Choi said in an internal interview after joining, "I was impressed by Daedong’s vision to advance agriculture through AI and robotics." CEO Yeo also stated, "Daedong Group has solid basic infrastructure such as manufacturing capabilities necessary for agricultural robot business, product verification systems, domestic and international networks, and agricultural data, making it a company that can definitely succeed."

A Daedong official said, "We aim to strengthen the company’s core competencies and accelerate the pace of future businesses by recruiting S-class experts as CEOs for each business. Since they have abundant experience and capabilities in the group’s future business areas such as robotics, AI, and electric vehicles, it is fully possible to explore new business opportunities such as entering overseas markets and securing partner companies."

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