SK seeks generational shift in major reshuffle

SK Group initiated a sweeping top-level management overhaul, appointing younger executives to lead key affiliates in a strategic move to boost innovation amid persistent domestic and international business uncertainties, the company said on Thursday.

Under the year-end reshuffle, Chey Chang-won, the former vice chairman at SK Discovery, has taken on a new role as the head of SK Supex Council. The position is considered the second-highest rank within the group. Chey is a cousin of SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won.

The new chief of SK’s consultative panel is widely expected to seek a soft landing of the ongoing shakeup of the group’s top management and organizational restructuring. Cho Dae-sik, the former chairman of the council, will serve as a vice chairman at SK Inc. and also an adviser for the group’s global investment strategy.

“Leaders from SK’s affiliates voiced their consensus that the new chief of the council is the most qualified for developing the group’s management style,” an official at SK Group said.

SK also hinted at tightening the owner family’s grip within the group by promoting the eldest daughter of Chey Tae-won. Chey Yoon-chung, 34, was promoted to vice president of SK Biopharmaceuticals in the latest reshuffle, becoming the youngest executive of the group. She joined the bio affiliate in 2017 and returned to the firm two years later as the head of its global strategy and investment team.

Other top-ranking executives were also replaced by younger leaders.