SK Group on Thursday appointed Lee Seok-hee as the CEO of SK hynix in its annual reshuffle, alongside new leaders named for SK Gas, SK Engineering & Construction and SK Global Chemical.

“Lee has the leadership and world-class expertise in chipmaking, and has taken the posts as the heads of SK hynix’s R&D division, head of DRAM business unit, and COO. All in all, he is viewed as the right figure to secure sustainable competitiveness,” said SK Group in a statement.

Park Sung-wook, who had led the chipmaker as vice chairman and CEO for six years, will serve as the head of the SK Supex council’s information and communication technology committee as well as the head of future technology and growth. He will take charge of putting together the company’s global strategy for growth and ICT research, the company added.

Lee, 53, received a master’s degree in materials engineering at Stanford University and has worked at Intel in the US.

He took post as a professor in electrical engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology prior to joining SK Hynix in 2013, the company said.

“For innovation and change, newly appointed CEOs at SK Hynix, SK Gas, SK Engineering & Construction and SK Global Chemical are in their early-to-mid 50s with expertise in their field and management,” SK Group said. 

By Kim Bo-gyung (lisakim425@heraldcorp.com)