[서울신문] Choi Tae-won-Choi Jung-woo’Extra Bromance’… The development of composite materials for electric vehicles also faced with

Both companies signed an MOU for lightweight vehicle business

Emphasizing social role and responsibility Similarity philosophy
POSCO and SK launch new materials for battery packs

SK Chairman Choi Tae-won (right, 61) and POSCO Chairman Choi Jung-woo (left, 64), who have fostered’bromance’ with a similar management philosophy, are working together in future business. The two chairmen, who have recently raised expectations for cooperation by intensively fostering electric vehicles and hydrogen related businesses side by side, finally joined hands in business practice.

On the 8th, SK and POSCO signed a’MOU for the Development of Lightweight Composite Materials for Vehicles’ at the POSCO Center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. The signing ceremony was attended by Kyungsoo Na, President of SK Global Chemical, and Hakdong Kim, President of POSCO. This is the first time that SK and POSCO have signed an agreement in practical work related to electric vehicles, not in terms of social contribution such as lunchbox service.

An official from POSCO explained, “This agreement was achieved with the consensus of the two companies that the development of innovative electric vehicle materials is necessary to proactively respond to changes in the electric vehicle parts market.” Both companies will research and develop composite materials for electric vehicle battery packs, plastic materials with enhanced adhesion to steel, and vehicle skeleton materials that withstand external shocks. By combining SK’s excellent chemical material technology with POSCO’s unrivaled steel material technology, it is possible to quickly create durable and lightweight electric vehicle materials.

Earlier, on the 2nd, SK and POSCO formed an alliance with Hyundai Motor Company in the hydrogen business and formed the’K Hydrogen Avengers’. By 2030, SK will invest 1.8 trillion won to build a liquefied hydrogen plant, POSCO will invest 10 trillion won in hydrogen reduction steel development, and Hyundai Motors will invest 1.1 trillion won in hydrogen vehicle research and development and installation of charging stations.

Chairman Taewon Choi and Chairman Jeongwoo Choi have many similarities not only in management philosophy but also in the business they are promoting. The’social value’ (SV) that Chairman Tae-won Choi aims for and the’Corporate Citizen’ promoted by Chairman Choi Jung-woo are in line in that they emphasize the social role and responsibility of a company. In addition, Chairman Tae-won Choi launched the Hydrogen Business Promotion Team at the end of last year and entered the hydrogen production and distribution business, and Chairman Jeong-Woo Choi also announced that he would improve POSCO from a steel company to a hydrogen production company.

A business official said, “As conglomerates, which are ranked 3rd (SK) and 6th (POSCO) in the business world, are entering the same business, but putting more weight on cooperation than competition, expectations for synergy are inevitably high.”

Reporter Lee Young-joon [email protected]