The era of 'professional outside directors'... A 'new business' for the company is visible to them.

Large corporations such as Samsung, Hyundai, and POSCO plan to appoint experts related to new businesses.
“It is a meaningful strategy to appoint candidates with expertise as outside directors.”

March is shareholder meeting season. Ahead of this month's regular general shareholders' meeting, companies are more active than ever in recruiting 'professional outside directors' who are highly related to the businesses they run. As securing early and leading technologies and securing new sources of business has become a desperate task for companies, it appears to be a strategy to receive help in promoting main businesses and future new businesses through them.

According to the industry on the 3rd, major domestic companies such as Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor Company, POSCO, and HD Hyundai are appointing outside directors who are closely related to new business areas. Companies plan to hold a regular shareholders' meeting within March at the latest to raise the agenda for the appointment of outside directors.

First, Samsung Electronics is preparing to appoint Cho Hye-kyung, a professor in the AI ​​Application Department at Hansung University, as an outside director. Professor Cho is an AI and robotics expert who is a direct junior of Samsung Electronics Device Solutions (DS) President Kyehyun Gye in the Department of Control and Measurement Engineering at Seoul National University and served as president of the Korean Society of Robotics. As Samsung Electronics has recently accelerated the development of its AI and robot business, Professor Cho's appointment shows Samsung Electronics' commitment to new future businesses.

Hyundai Motor Company will reappoint Jiyoon Lee, a professor in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at KAIST, who was appointed as the first female outside director in 2021. Professor Lee is an expert in intelligent transportation systems and autonomous unmanned systems applied to future mobility, such as urban air transportation (UAM) and future air transportation (AAM), which are being commercialized by Hyundai Motor Company. As Hyundai Motor Company continues to expand its mobility area, it is expected to serve as an advisor for new businesses.

Hyundai Mobis recommended Keith Witek (57), Chief Operating Officer (COO) of ‘Tenstorent’, an artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor startup, as an outside director candidate. Keith Wittek served as a vice president at semiconductor company AMD, an R&D director at Tesla, and an advisory member at SiFive, a RISC-V-based semiconductor design company.

In a recent interview, he said, “Chiplet technology will emerge as a core technology in the future semiconductor market and will gradually become popular.” As Hyundai Motor Company is active in 'Chip to Factory', which applies semiconductors to automobiles, the company explains that he, who held a key position at Tesla, where he directly designed semiconductors and even traded directly with foundries, is capable of providing sufficient management advice in this field.

POSCO Holdings plans to appoint Park Sung-wook, former vice chairman of SK Hynix, as an outside director. He is a former engineer and a materials industry expert who has led R&D expertise and technological innovation in the semiconductor industry. He joined the Hyundai Electronics Industrial Research Institute and served as head of the Hynix Semiconductor Research Center and as head of research, development and manufacturing (CTO) at SK Hynix.

As POSCO Group and SK Group are currently developing various businesses in the secondary battery and recycling fields, which are considered future new growth engines, former Vice Chairman Park is expected to serve as a bridge for cooperation between the two groups.

LX Semicon appointed Kim Nam-soo, a professor of electrical and information engineering at Seoul National University, and Han Sang-beom, former CEO of LG Display, as new outside directors.

Professor Namsoo Kim is an electrical and electronic engineering expert who has been conducting various research activities in the fields of artificial intelligence and signal processing. He also has experience working as a professional researcher at the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, the central research center of Samsung Electronics, for five years since 1993.

Former CEO Sang-Beom Han has been active in the semiconductor/display field for nearly 40 years and has accumulated unrivaled expertise and experience in related fields such as development, process, production, and equipment development. As the company's performance has been on the decline in recent years, there is an interpretation that the appointment of an expert is intended to help it rebound.

The recruitment of professional outside directors by companies is receiving positive reviews as it contrasts with the outside directors of POSCO Holdings, who were recently booked on charges of breach of trust and violation of the Anti-Corruption Act due to their luxurious board of directors.

Ji Min-hee, a corporate lawyer, said, “If experts familiar with new businesses are appointed, they will be able to respond quickly to trends and easily secure a vision for the future. Appointing outside directors with experts specialized in future businesses is a necessary strategy for companies.”

Lee Jong-woo, a professor of business administration at Ajou University, said, “As the domestic industry is at a time when change is needed, it is meaningful to appoint outside directors with expertise in future business. It is also the job of outside directors to focus on their respective roles and not create problems. They must fulfill their role as outside directors to help the company’s management.”

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