SK Group head Chey to assume chair post at SK Telecom 

SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won will assume an additional post as a chairman of SK Telecom Co.

The conglomerate’s holding company SK Inc. announced on Monday that the decision is aimed at accelerating the telecom arm’s digital innovation efforts, particularly in developing artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. 

In the new role, Chey will not be paid nor hold any voting rights in board meetings. 

“The chairman will not attend board of director meetings,” the announcement detailed. “Instead, he will take the role of a facilitator to help the management and the board in leading fundamental innovations.”

The announcement stressed that the board of directors will remain as the decision makers.

The day-to-day operations will be managed by the current SK Telecom leadership headed by CEO Ryu Young-sang. Ahead of the announcement, Chey met with the telecom arm’s management and received the feedback that his participation would be beneficial to the company’s growth. 

The 61 year-old serves as the chairman of SK Inc., the holding company focused on corporate investment.

With the latest announcement, Chey will be serving as a chair without voting rights at board of director meetings for SK Innovation Co., SK Hynix Inc. and SK Telecom. 

He receives his salary from SK Inc. and SK Hynix only. 

AI AS GROWTH DRIVER

“SK Telecom is an integral and symbolic part of the group’s information and communications technology (ICT,) Chey wrote on the mobile carrier unit’s in-house bulletin board. 

Last November, South Korea's largest wireless operator claimed to have entered what it dubs SKT 2.0 era; in which AI will be the company's growth driver.

SK Telecom has been incorporating AI technology in the T World subscription services and the metaverse platform ifland. The telecom giant is also developing an AI assistant, tentatively named Apollo. 

The telecom giant wants to make Artificial Intelligence as a Service (AIaaS) as its core business to serve the global market. AIaaS is the third party offering of AI services. As such, it allows individuals and companies to experiment with AI without large capital and at low risk. 

TRILATERAL COLLAB

The trilateral collaboration among SK Hynix, SK Telecom and its investment spinoff SK Square Co. is also slated to benefit from the latest announcement. 

The three companies announced last month they will jointly set up an independent entity called SAPEON Inc. in the United States to enter the global AI chip business.

SK Telecom has a 62.5% stake in the US company, followed by SK Hynix's 25%. The remaining 12.5% goes to SK Square. 

The telecom company will lead the joint firm’s technological development.

An SK Telecom employee told The Korea Economic Daily that Chey’s insight will be helpful in detecting opportunities in mergers and acquisitions and following through with the investment. 

“Chey’s participation could make the joint company’s decision making on large scale investment and new ventures faster and clearer,” an industry insider said. 

Write to Han-Gyeol Seon at always@hankyung.com
Jee Abbey Lee edited this article.