Daedong said on the 19th that seven key executives from the group and affiliates acquired company shares through on-exchange purchases.
Company leadership, including Chair Kim Jun-sik, Vice Chair Won Yu-hyun, and Executive Vice Presidents Kwon Gi-jae, Jo Seong-woo, and Na Young-jung, took part in this buyback. From affiliates, Executive Vice Presidents Kang Seong-cheol and Yu Yong-gyu joined. The total purchased shares were 195,010, valued at about 1.53 billion won.
Daedong is pushing to transition into an "AI agriculture operations platform" corporations based on artificial intelligence (AI) technology in the agricultural sector. The plan is to integrate AI autonomous-work farm machinery and agricultural robots, connected services, precision agriculture, and smart farming into a single operating system that collects and analyzes data, with robots and equipment carrying out the optimal tasks derived by AI.
This year, it commercialized and began selling the country's first vision AI–based unmanned autonomous-work tractor. On the last month, it was selected as the preferred bidder as the private-sector lead corporations for the "National Agriculture AX Platform Project," and is pushing, together with the government, to spread agricultural AI and build large-scale smart greenhouses. It is also concurrently developing agricultural robots for smart farms, accelerating the expansion of its AI robot business.
Daedong said the executives' share purchases go beyond investment and demonstrate confidence in, and a commitment to, the company's AI- and Robotics-centered growth strategy. Executive Vice Presidents Jo Seong-woo and Yu Yong-gyu, who recently joined the group, also took part in the buyback.
Chair Kim Jun-sik said, "The purchase of Daedong shares by key executives is responsible management in action that shows management's conviction about the company's future growth potential and corporations value," adding, "We will address the shortage of agricultural labor through an AI Robotics transformation, and enhance shareholder value based on strengthened competitiveness in future businesses and an expanded foundation for global growth."