Choi Tae-won and Jae-won Brothers, First Joint Appearance at CES?

Chairman Chey Tae-won of SK Group Attends CES for the First Time
'Carbon Neutrality' Theme... Led by SK Group
Six Affiliates Participate... Largest Scale Ever
Chey Jae-won Chooses CES as First Official Move After Returning to Management

Chairman Chey Tae-won of SK Group (left) and Choi Jae-won, CEO of SK On and Senior Vice Chairman of SK ＜Photo provided by SK＞

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] Chey Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group, and Chey Jae-won, CEO of SK On (Senior Vice Chairman of SK Group), will attend the world’s largest electronics and IT exhibition, ‘CES 2022,’ held in the United States next January. It is significant that Chairman Chey will visit CES for the first time, and Senior Vice Chairman Chey will make his first official appearance since returning to management. Especially next year, SK Group will directly prepare CES under the theme of ‘carbon neutrality.’ This is interpreted as an intention to showcase Chairman Chey’s long-emphasized management philosophy of ‘carbon neutrality’ along with the technological capabilities of SK Group affiliates.

According to the business community on the 21st, Chairman Chey is expected to depart around the 4th to visit CES held in Las Vegas, USA, from January 5 to 8 next year. He will visit in his capacity as Chairman of SK Group.

This year’s CES preparation was led at the group level. Previously, each affiliate selected themes emphasizing their technological capabilities, but this time, the theme was decided as ‘carbon neutrality,’ a global trend. This is also the reason Chairman Chey will personally attend CES. At the ‘SK CEO Seminar’ last October, Chairman Chey stated, "Future business plans must be established under completely different conditions than now," and added, "All affiliates must focus their capabilities on evolving into business models that can achieve zero carbon footprint and developing advanced technologies." Chairman Chey is expected to emphasize concrete implementation plans for ‘carbon neutrality’ together with SK Group affiliates participating in CES.

Next year’s CES will see the addition of SK E&S and SK Ecoplant to the four affiliates (SK Hynix, SK Telecom, SK Innovation, SKC). The booth size is also planned to be the largest ever. Since SK Group first participated in CES in 2019, it has been expanding its exhibition scale every year.

Also, as Chairman Chey has expressed his intention to expand North American business through this personnel move, there is a possibility he will attend CES annually. SK Group has newly established the position of North America Vice Chairman, and affiliates with significant U.S. business such as SK Hynix and SK E&S have also created dedicated North America teams. This highlights the importance of the U.S. business.

Senior Vice Chairman Chey also attracts attention by choosing CES as his first official activity since returning to management. He has consistently attended CES even before his return. In recent years, as CES has become a venue to showcase mobility technologies, he has often been seen visiting booths of Hyundai Motor, Kia, Ford, and Nvidia every year, asking questions directly. His passion and interest in the automotive industry are well known in the business community. It is also known that SK Group’s initial entry into the electric vehicle battery business was driven by Senior Vice Chairman Chey’s will.

Since SK On decided to invest 13 trillion won only in the U.S. this year together with Ford, this CES is expected to be special. When SK Group first participated in CES in 2019, it was said by insiders that they were so passionate that they visited more than ten booths one by one from early morning to late evening on the first day. Senior Vice Chairman Chey is also expected to visit the global automakers and Nvidia booths this time. An SK Group official said, "This year, each affiliate prepared their exhibitions under the big theme set by SK Group," and added, "While Chairman Chey will tour the entire SK Group, Senior Vice Chairman Chey is expected to focus on the SK On exhibition."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.