Chair Cho Hyun-bum of Hankook & Company Group has begun steps to return to management, attending an affiliates' mid- to long-term strategy meeting for the first time since being paroled on the 30th. Hankook & Company Group said it will put more weight behind the AI transformation (AX) that Cho has emphasized and strengthen competitiveness.
According to Hankook & Company Group on the 24th, Cho attended the "affiliates' innovation meeting" held on the 20th–21st at Technoplex, the group's office in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province. The meeting was to flesh out each affiliate's mid- to long-term business strategy, and more than 50 key executives from affiliates took part, including Vice Chair Lee Su-il of Hankook & Company Group; Co-CEOs Kim Jun-hyun and Park Jong-ho of Hankook & Company(000240); and Co-CEOs Ahn Jong-seon and Lee Sang-hoon of Hankook Tire & Technology(161390).
This is the first time Cho's management moves have been disclosed since being paroled on the 30th. Cho was arrested and indicted in March 2023 on charges of embezzlement and breach of trust, but was temporarily released that November when bail was granted. While standing trial without detention, he was taken into custody in court after receiving a prison sentence at the first trial in May last year. His sentence was reduced to two years on appeal and was finalized by the Supreme Court in May. Parole came about a month before his scheduled release.
However, Hankook & Company Group says Cho has not fully returned to management. A group official said, "He is listening to presentations from each affiliate and sketching out mid- to long-term business strategies to prepare for a return," adding, "The exact timing of a concrete return to management has not yet been decided."
The meeting covered six affiliates, including the business headquarters of the operating holding company Hankook & Company, Model Solution, Hankook Networks, Hankook Precision Works, Hankook Engineering Works, Precisely Microtechnology, and Hankook & Company Ventures. Each CEO presented first-half management results and mid- to long-term strategies.
Hankook & Company Group holds an affiliates' innovation meeting every year. In May, Hanon Systems(018880) held the group's first management strategy and innovation meeting and released its 2030 mid- to long-term vision and growth strategy, and Hankook Tire & Technology plans to unveil related strategies in Oct.
The meeting discussed response strategies to external uncertainties such as global tariff disputes and Middle East risks, as well as measures to enhance competitiveness by business segment. It also sought ways to secure mid- to long-term growth engines, including discovering new businesses, and to create group-level synergies by expanding business, technology, and infrastructure collaboration among affiliates.
In particular, AX, which Cho has emphasized, was a key topic at this meeting. A Hankook & Company Group official said, "As the paradigm is rapidly shifting around artificial intelligence (AI) and manufacturing innovation based on electrification, automation, and data spreads, we shared a direction to accelerate innovation across business practices and organizational culture based on digital transformation (DX)."
Accordingly, the group agreed not to stop at simply introducing AI but to build an operating system that can be applied to actual work and business, continuously verify returns on investment, and internalize an AI utilization model optimized for the group. The plan is to advance the AI operating system to improve work efficiency and build a virtuous cycle that links this to profitability improvement and stronger business competitiveness.
It also noted that as the application of physical AI on manufacturing sites gains full momentum, equipment competitiveness is evolving beyond simple automation toward securing AI capabilities for learning, judgment, and autonomous operation. Accordingly, it will build AI-based standard systems at manufacturing and logistics sites by affiliate to boost productivity and quality and raise manufacturing competitiveness by one level.
A Hankook & Company Group official said, "Using this meeting as a springboard, we will respond preemptively to the rapidly changing market environment and, based on the integrated 'Hankook' brand strategy, pool affiliates' capabilities to create new growth opportunities," adding, "While advancing the competitiveness of core businesses such as tires, batteries, and thermal management, we will also expand into future technology fields such as AI, Robotics, and automation to further strengthen our competitiveness as a 'global mobility tech group.'"