According to Shipping World Network, HD Hyundai recently announced its 2026 president-level personnel appointments. The reshuffle focuses on two main themes—coordination of the shipbuilding main business and on-site safety control—while also assigning core management for emerging tracks such as data center power generation engines and small modular reactors (SMRs), sending a clear business direction.

Vice Chairman Lee Sang-kyun of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries was appointed Vice Chairman of HD Hyundai Group overseeing shipbuilding business coordination. Lee will take unified charge of HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, HD Hyundai Samho and other shipbuilding entities under the group, review core issues at each company, formulate coordinated strategies and implementation plans, break down resource barriers among shipbuilding subsidiaries, and jointly respond to external market volatility in the shipbuilding industry.

In addition to the shipbuilding main business, Lee will also oversee the group’s new growth businesses and lead strategic directions including data center engine power generation projects and the commercialization of small modular reactors (SMRs). With more than 40 years of experience in shipbuilding, Lee joined HD Hyundai Heavy Industries in 1983 and has long been rooted in frontline production management. He has headed HD Hyundai Samho and the shipbuilding and offshore division of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, is familiar with on-site production processes, and is a senior manager within the group with deep expertise across the entire shipbuilding chain.

Executive Vice President Cho Min-soo, who previously served as representative for HD Hyundai Heavy Industries’ shipbuilding business, was promoted to President and nominated as Representative Director for Safety Coordination. Born in 1966, Cho has spent his entire career at shipbuilding production sites and has extensive frontline operational experience. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries will form a co-representative director system comprising Lee Sang-kyun and Cho Min-soo. Lee will focus on overall shipbuilding strategy and medium- to long-term growth, while Cho will focus on on-site safety management and improve the efficiency of safety decisions and frontline execution. Keum Seok-ho, who was promoted to co-representative director last October, will no longer serve as co-representative director; he will retain the rank of President and move to oversee management support coordination.

The promotion list also includes two business division heads. Executive Vice President Han Ju-seok of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries’ Engine & Machinery Division was promoted to President. Han joined HD Hyundai Heavy Industries’ engine division in 1994, and over 33 years his responsibilities have covered the entire process of marine engine R&D, production and sales.

Han will advance HD Hyundai’s KRW 830 billion data center power generation engine plant expansion project, extend marine engine technology into the land-based power generation market, and coordinate with multiple engine companies within the group to amplify business synergies. Benefiting from the expansion of AI computing, overseas data center electricity demand continues to rise, and this is also a second growth curve that HD Hyundai is prioritizing.

Executive Vice President Park Chan-hyuk of HD Hyundai Site Solution was promoted to President. Park graduated from Hanyang University with a degree in mechanical engineering and has deep experience in construction equipment production and quality control. He has served as head of overseas subsidiaries in Europe and China and as Head of Global Production, and was appointed co-representative director of HD Hyundai Site Solution in September this year. After this promotion, he will be responsible for improving operational efficiency and building global competitiveness in the construction equipment business.

HD Hyundai said that this president-level reshuffle is intended to consolidate core shipbuilding competitiveness and build a site-centered safety management system. A group official said that the company will continue to defend its position as a global shipbuilding leader and achieve long-term sustainable development through continuous competitiveness improvement. HD Hyundai will subsequently carry out the remaining executive personnel adjustments and finalize its 2027 business plan at a management strategy meeting.

This personnel arrangement is an organizational adjustment by HD Hyundai after order volumes surged. On the one hand, it places a veteran familiar with the entire shipbuilding chain in the group’s shipbuilding coordination position to address the fragmented development of multiple shipbuilding entities; on the other hand, it separately establishes a Representative Director for Safety Coordination, elevating safety management to a level as important as business strategy. At the same time, management adjustments in the engine and construction equipment segments reflect the group’s layout strategy of not being limited to shipbuilding and continuing to explore new tracks such as land-based power and construction equipment. This personnel combination focuses on the delivery safety and capacity coordination of current shipbuilding orders while also laying the groundwork for medium- and long-term diversified growth.