On the 25th, in its 2026 executive appointments, Samsung Electronics broke with its nearly five-year trend of shrinking the executive ranks and sharply increased the number of vice presidents and other promotions from a year earlier. As Park Hark-kyu , a finance expert and head of the Business Support Task Force (president), newly rose to become the No. 2 at Samsung Electronics, the company appointed a large number of experts in future technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), robots and next-generation semiconductors, contrary to expectations that it would focus on "slimming down."
On the 25th, Samsung Electronics carried out its regular 2026 executive appointments, naming vice presidents, senior executives, fellows and masters. A total of 161 executives were promoted, up significantly from 137 last year. Samsung Electronics said it "appointed leaders who will drive future technologies in areas such as AI, robots and semiconductors to proactively respond to the rapid changes in the industrial paradigm and secure leadership."
◇ Roh Tae-Moon era, transplanting AI and mobile DNA into finished goods
A large share of this year's vice president and executive promotions were concentrated in AI, mobile and semiconductors. With Roh Tae-Moon, head of the DX Division (president), taking the helm of Samsung Electronics' finished goods business, a wave of unconventional promotions landed in the Mobile eXperience (MX) Division, which oversees the smartphone business.
The DX Division has put forward figures who will lead AI innovation in mobile. In fact, a series of vice presidents in their 40s were tapped in the MX Division. Lee Seong-jin, head of the Language AI Core technology development group (vice president) in the MX Division, an expert in large language models (LLMs) who contributed to this year's success streak of the Galaxy smartphone series, became a vice president at the age of 46.
Kang Min-seok, head of the Smartphone PP Team in the MX Division, who conceived the "AI phone" concept and the ultra-slim form factor design, also rose to vice president at the age of 49. Vice President Kang is a product planning specialist with expertise in mobile software development and smartphone planning, and was recognized for planning the world's first AI phone that applied Galaxy AI.
Samsung Research, which has sought synergies with Samsung Electronics, also placed a large number of new leaders to drive future technologies. Lee Yoon-soo, Head of Team of the Data Intelligence Team at Samsung Research (vice president), is also cited as a figure who contributed to AI feature innovations in Samsung's smartphone business. Choi Go-eun, a robot software expert and senior executive at Samsung Research, was promoted to senior executive at the age of 41 in recognition of achievements in developing Autonomous Driving robots and real-time manipulation technologies.
This is seen as strongly reflecting the influence of President Roh Tae-Moon, who, along with DS chief Jun Young-hyun (vice chairman), has become one of the two top leaders at Samsung Electronics. As Roh shed the acting title for head of the DX Division and began in earnest to act as division chief, he has repeatedly emphasized AI innovation across the finished goods business, and as a representative example, has expressed the view that the MX Division's AI competitiveness should be transplanted across the finished goods business.
◇ Semiconductors focused on restoring trust, all-out effort on Production yield improvement
In the semiconductor institutional sector, which suffered severe sluggishness last year, a strict principle of reward and discipline appears to have been maintained. Those who boosted Samsung's semiconductor competitiveness in areas including next-generation DRAM processes, high bandwidth memory (HBM) and foundry (contract semiconductor manufacturing) were named on the promotion list.
Notably, Samsung's semiconductor unit, which has long struggled with Production yield issues in HBM and foundry, among others, promoted a string of "defect analysis" experts in key areas such as DRAM and foundry to vice president in this round of appointments. This is also interpreted as analysis that the Production yield improvement efforts led by DS chief Jun Young-hyun (vice chairman), who took office last year, have achieved a certain degree of effect.
In the foundry business at Samsung Electronics, which has shown positive signs in overall Production yield improvement including the state-of-the-art 2-nanometer process, Kim Young-dae, Head of Team of Product Technology (vice president), was promoted. Kim, a semiconductor evaluation and analysis expert known as a "Production yield fixer," innovated wafer characterization and defect analysis testing methodologies. In particular, he is said to have made major contributions this year to improving Production yield in Samsung Foundry's 2-nanometer and 3-nanometer processes.
The will to reclaim DRAM leadership from SK hynix and Micron, which had closed the gap, was also evident in these semiconductor institutional sector appointments. Lee Byung-hyun, head of the DRAM PA2 Group in the Memory Business (vice president) and a Ph.D. from KAIST, rose to vice president at the age of 48. He was recognized for leading development of D1C DRAM, a next-generation DRAM fab, and sixth-generation HBM (HBM4), controlling chronic defect issues and improving device performance.