Upgrading Value of Brand
'Hanwha'to World-Class Level
Hanwha intent on exploring new global businesses and M&As in Korea and abroad

Hanwha Business Group has put into a high gear its strategy of building the conglomerate into a world-class one with a focus on global management.
To this end, Hanwha Business Group Kim Seung-youn called for accelerating M&As to domestic and foreign companies.
During his New Year's message before 120 senior group officials in its Boeun factory in North Chungcheong Province, Chairman Kim said, "The group desperately needs to explore new business arenas with an international competitive edge by going beyond the existing business structure primarily based on domestic demand."Kim urged his group to find a new breed of businesses to instill an international business mindset and lay a foundation for global management.
Hanwha plans to set aside a whopping 1.2 trillion won in facility and market investments this year, a 50 percent surge from last year's 800 billion won.
The group aims to post 22 trillion won in sales during 2006, up from 21 trillion won last year, with the goal of evolving into a global company with 30 trillion won in sales in 2010, offering customers, stockholders and people with the best value.
Hanwha Chairman Kim has a vision of making the brand "Hanwha"a world-class one in Korea. He called for making Hanwha into one of world-class brands in Korea within five years by cultivating the brand as a core asset of the conglomerate.
Hanwha Business Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn urged his group's affiliate companies to exert themselves to explore diverse futuristic growth engines through expanding new businesses and overseas market penetration when he delivered a speech marking the 53rd anniversary of the founding of the conglomerate on October 9, 2005. He suggested such efforts to explore diverse futuristic growth engines as an expansion of new businesses at a fast pace, overseas market penetration and timely investments, saying that "now is an era when the fastest one devours the slower one, not that the bigger one swallows the small one." "If opportunities that could preoccupy the market are missed due to long-standing arguments on the drawing board, victory would not be obtained in a digitized environment. As it comes to investments to explore new growth engines in Korea and abroad, they should be pushed with determination after taking into account the perspective of mid- and long-term profits,"he said.
Kim also stressed the need for enhancing the brand value of the conglomerate by upgrading its profile, saying that Hanwha should be recognized among inside and outside clients within five years as a corporation most favored by college students, one most trusted by customers'and one respected by society.
Hanwha Group Chairman Kim urged staffs to strategically pursue management aimed at making synergetic effects within the group. He asked the group for placing priority on the realization of an integrated blueprint in the financing sector, the group's core industrial arena, saying that the vision of the financial sector will serve as a yardstick for determining the group's growth opportunity. Kim emphasized that the group's financial sector should take a lead in the market by sharing characteristics and strong points of each subsidiary and integrating strategies among group companies. To this end, he called for drawing up a vision of developing the financial sector as a global integrated financial corporation.
In 1952, Hanwha Group Chairman Kim's deceased father, Kim Jong-hee founded Korea Explosives. At time of the establishment, Korea Explosives posted 50 million hwan (predecessor of won) in sales with assets worth 200,000 hwan, but it has grown into a conglomerate with 30 subsidiaries and assets worth 46.9 trillion won that chalked up 20.5 trillion won in combined sales last year.
Hanwha Group has entered the "Era of Second Founding"since 1981 when Chairman Kim took the helm of the group. Under the leadership of Chairman Kim, the group has strengthened its presence in such sectors as financing, electronics, distribution, leisure and social welfare, mostly in service industries.
Hanwha Business Group last year launched its 10-year management strategy plan aimed at making preparations for the next decade by exploring new businesses and restructuring existing business focus.
Hanwha designated the year 2005 as the first year of concentrating human resources management in the next decade. As a result, the conglomerate plans to strengthen core capabilities and secure key manpower, while exerting itself to maximize profits in the second half of this year.
As part of its efforts to cope with rapidly changing business conditions, Hanwha is putting more energy into streamlining the financial structure through restructuring the existing business lines and aggressively strengthening its presence in foreign markets. The conglomerate aims at posting 20.5 trillion won in 2005 sales.
The 10-year management strategy plan calls for, among others, preparing for the future, one decade later, - futuristic management focusing on exploring new business arenas and restructuring existing ones.
The explosive division will concentrate on maintaining a competitive upper hand for the time being and later it will consider diverse management strategies. nw

Hanwha Business Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn