SK Group will replace the head of its think tank, the SK Management and Economic Research Institute, with an external figure born in the 1980s. In line with groupwide restructuring measures, the institute's workforce will also be sharply reduced to about one-third of its current size, and the share of research focused on AI-related policy will increase.
According to business community sources on the 22nd, SK Group plans to appoint Park Seok-jung, a researcher at Shinhan Investment Corp., as the new head of the SK Management and Economic Research Institute effective Jan. 1 next year. Park is said to have already met with the institute's executives and key stakeholders to discuss plans for operating the institute after taking office.
Born in 1982 and a graduate of the world economics department at Fudan University in China, Park is considered one of the leading "China experts" in the financial investment industry. Park worked at Mirae Asset Global Investments' Shanghai unit and Hi Investment & Securities before joining Shinhan Investment Corp. in 2015, where Park led the overseas equities team and headed the investment strategy division.
SK Group's decision to replace the head of its think tank with an external figure born in the 1980s is seen as part of the groupwide personnel overhaul underway. In executive appointments carried out early this month, 17 of the 85 newly appointed executives at SK, or 20%, were born in or after 1980. Ryu Byung-hoon, the former SK hynix executive vice president tapped as the new chief secretary to Chairman Chey Tae-won of SK Group, was also born in 1980.
Along with this, SK Group has decided to cut the number of employees at the SK Management and Economic Research Institute from around 40 to about 15, or one-third. As a result, the institute, which had conducted research across various fields, is expected to focus on analyses of global economic and policy trends.
Those leaving the institute will be assigned to other roles at each affiliate, but some will move to the AI Policy Research Institute under SK Telecom. This is seen as a decision to conduct in-depth research on AI, which SK Group is prioritizing as a next-generation growth engine.
The affiliation of the SK Management and Economic Research Institute will also change. Until now, the institute has been operated as an organization under SK Telecom, but starting next year it is expected to move under SK hynix.
An SK hynix official said, "Semiconductors are among the most cyclical industries, so we are expanding research on recent global economic and policy trends," and added, "Taking over the operation of the SK Management and Economic Research Institute was decided to strengthen professional talent for that purpose."