POSCO Chairman Choi Jeong-woo.

Oh Kyu-seok, head of the New Growth Engine Division. / Park Sung-jin, chief of the Industry-Campus Collaboration Office.

Jang Yoon-jong, president of POSCO Research Institute.  (Photos: POSCO)

POSCO Chairman Choi Jeong-woo carried out his first reshuffle of executives since he took office, hiring three outside experts to give the group a shot in the arm.

In accordance with management tenets of breaking the mold of “pure-blood” personnel and giving more weight to manpower with expertise, POSCO appointed former CEO Oh Kyu-seok of Daelim Industrial to head the New Growth Engine Division, Prof. Park Sung-jin of Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) Mechanical Engineering Department, to be chief of the Industry-Campus Collaboration Office, and Dr. Jang Yoon-jong of Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade (KIET), to be president of POSCO Research Institute (POSRI).

An executive with a rank of executive vice president will be added to lead the trade & commerce body.

POSCO Group conducted an annual regular personnel change of executives, transfusing outside experts last Dec. 20, one month earlier than previous ones. The reshuffle may be construed as the group’s determination to stabilize management and to promote innovation by hiring outside experts in the future new industry businesses.

It also indicates POSCO Chairman Choi’s determination to implement the 100 innovation tasks he announced while celebrating his first 100 days in office, and a goal of becoming a “100-year company” by exploring and nurturing future growth engines, industry analysts said.

The New Growth Division, whose head has been promoted to president is POSCO’s core growth axes, was elevated from the existing new growth business.

New Growth Division Chief Oh held positions such as managing director of LG Telecom in charge of strategic planning, executive vice president of Hanaro Telecom’s strategic division, and CEO of cable TV group C&M before he served as president in charge of business management at Daelim Industrial from 2011 to 2017. Oh is considered an organizational management experts.

POSCO aims to take up a 20 percent share in the global secondary battery market and reap 17 trillion won in revenues by 2030.

Oh is charged with overseeing the project.

New Chief Park of the Industry-Campus Collaboration Office was once nominated as a candidate for SME and startups minister. Park, a 1st-term POSTECH graduate, worked for LG Electronics and he served as researcher-cum professor with Mississippi State University before he became a professor with POSTEC in 2009.

Park heads the newly inaugurated office, charged with nurturing ventures, reinvigorating regional economies, and addressing youth unemployment issues. POSCO appointed KIET President Jang to be president of POSRI, the group’s think tank.

New POSRI President Jang graduated from Seoul National University’s Economics Department and obtained a doctorate from Paris Nanterre University.

Jang, a prominent trade & commerce expert, had been with the Korea Development Institute and KIET. He had positions such as senior researcher, head of the Digital Economy Office and vice president at KIET. Jang has an in-depth understanding of and insight into manufacturing industry innovation as he also served as the Growth Engine Industry Research Center and chief of the 4th Industrial Revolution Research Team.

POSCO appointed Min Kyung-joon, head of Zhangjiagang POSCO Stainless Steel, to head POSCO Chemtech, one of the group’s core subsidiaries specializing in nurturing future growth engines.

POSCO restructured the existing steel division into three divisions - steel, non-steel and new growth - and introduced a responsibility management regime in which each division has responsible leadership.

President Jang In-wha was reappointed to head the Steel Division, which was born with a merger of Steel 1 and Steel 2 departments. Chief Chun Joong-sun of the Strategic Planning Division concurrently heads the Non-Steel Division.