A Year of Innovation Under Chung Ki-sun... AI and Robots at Shipyards, SMRs for Future Growth

Emphasizes exploring new markets, not settling for strong results
Business restructuring top priority after taking office
Advanced shipyard powered by AI and robotics
SMRs as a new power source for future ships
Expands into data center power generation business

HD Hyundai Chairman Chung Ki-sun marks one year in office on Oct. 17. The defining focus of his management over the past year has been competitiveness after the boom. As the shipbuilding boom boosted earnings and order backlogs grew, he pursued the integration of affiliates and manufacturing innovation using artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics. He has also expanded the business beyond making ships more efficient into small modular reactors (SMRs) and power generation equipment for data centers, laying the groundwork for future growth, according to industry observers.

According to HD Hyundai on Oct. 16, Chairman Chung recently urged executives across the group not to be satisfied with immediate results, but to strengthen core businesses by improving their fundamentals through technological competitiveness and to explore new markets. At the time, the company’s consolidated operating profit for the first half of this year had risen 187% year on year to KRW 6.9594 trillion, surpassing last year’s full-year result of KRW 6.0966 trillion. The aim is to avoid repeating past experiences of becoming complacent during boom periods and failing to respond to market changes in time.

HD Hyundai Chairman Chung Kisun inspects key production facilities and high-risk work sites at the HD Hyundai Samho shipyard in Yeongam-gun, South Jeolla Province. HD Hyundai

The first area he tackled after taking office was the business structure. Following the merger of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and HD Hyundai Mipo, HD Construction Equipment was launched in January this year by integrating HD Hyundai Construction Equipment and HD Hyundai Infracore. The shipbuilding division focused on using facilities, technology and personnel more efficiently and strengthening its competitiveness in naval vessels and special-purpose ships, while the construction equipment division focused on achieving economies of scale.

At production sites, the company is accelerating efforts to build a "future advanced shipyard" using AI and robotics. The approach involves testing everything from design to production and maintenance in a virtual shipyard in advance to improve work efficiency. HD Hyundai expects productivity to increase by 30% and shipbuilding time to decrease by 30% once the project is completed. It is also working to secure robotics technology, including jointly developing shipyard welding humanoid robots with U.S.-based Persona AI and acquiring a stake in South Korea's AIDIN Robotics.

The company has also moved to secure power sources for future ships. In the SMR field, it was selected as the preferred bidder for the supply of key equipment for TerraPower's Natrium reactor, and Chairman Chung met directly with TerraPower founder Bill Gates to discuss plans for commercialization. The company is also developing hydrogen fuel cells and hydrogen transport and storage technologies to support the decarbonization of the shipping industry.

HD Hyundai Chairman Chung Kisun delivers New Year's greetings at "Opening 2026," held at the HD Hyundai Global R&D Center. Instead of a formal New Year's ceremony, Chairman Chung created a forum for horizontal communication where employees could gather and exchange ideas. He also traveled from the Ulsan shipyard to worksites in Vietnam, listening to employees' voices firsthand. HD Hyundai

HD Hyundai also sees data center power demand as a new market. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries has expanded its business into distributed power supply systems for data centers, leveraging its independently developed four-stroke medium-speed HiMSEN engine. The strategy is to broaden its customer base by combining its marine engine technology with the group's power infrastructure capabilities.

Overseas, the company is increasing production capacity at its bases in Vietnam and the Philippines. In India, it met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is pursuing plans to build a new shipyard. In the United States, it is expanding cooperation with companies including Anduril and Kiewit on naval vessel maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), unmanned surface vessels and advanced shipbuilding technology.

An industry official said, "If the first year of his tenure was a time to reorganize businesses and set the direction for investment, the task ahead is to turn those efforts into results. What matters is how quickly new technologies take root at production sites and whether new businesses can become stable sources of revenue."

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