Hanwha Corp. Pursues Stable
Profits and Continuous Growth

Focuses on explosives and national defense industries; looks to enter new businesses

Hanwha Corp. has bee concentrating on two mainstay businesses ― explosives and national defense industries, while looking to explore new business arenas like aerospace parts. The corporation has been building up infrastructure that can yield optimum profits under any management circumstances ― securing stable profits and continuous growth.
Hanwha Corp., the flagship company of Hanwha Business Group, had to undergo dramatic restructuring during the Asian financial crisis under a strategy of choice and concentration to build up stable management foundation. Hanwha Corp. is now one of exemplary companies which have successfully restructured their business portfolios after overcoming challenges they experienced during and after the financial crisis. The company shed non-core businesses - separating low-profit agricultural chemicals and disposing of printer business. It has outsourced such areas as general affairs of worksites and management support sector and disposed of real estate.
UPGRADING EXISTING BUSINESSES AND DIVERSIFYING BUSINESS PORTFOLIOS.
Hanwha Corp. integrated two plants capable of producing industrial explosives into one as part of its efforts to beef up business capabilities. It has been putting more energy into improving management efficiency by revamping logistics outlet centers in major cities. Hanwha has been striving to churn out such quality products as high-performance EMX explosives considered to be safer and more eco-friendly than the conventional ones.
In a bid to cope with changes of the national defense industry, Hanwha is shifting from the production of the conventional ammunition to that of precision ammunition and guided missile weapons. In 2002, the company acquired Daewoo Electronics' gumi Plant capable of producing electronically operated fuse and underwater heavy equipment, and in 2002, Hanwha was designated as a company specializing in the production of guided missile weapons by the Ministry of National Defense. The company has been building up infrastructure for becoming a specialized guided missile system maker as it inaugurated guided missile system production facilities and guided missile system lab and began to implement its own guided missile system development projects. The company is also striving to diversify its business portfolios as it entered new businesses like the development of automobile air bag inflator using the technological prowess of the conventional explosives sector.
Hanwha is operating a task force on the exploration of new businesses to make a continuous look into the entry of new businesses by capitalizing on their capabilities of existing businesses and technological power. In particular, the company took over a plant in Cheonan, capable of producing hydraulic parts for aircraft as part of its efforts to make a foray into the aerospace parts field as a next-generation growth engine sector. The company has been establishing itself as a hydraulic drive maker as it inked a contract on a joint research into a hydraulic drive for Boeing B787 with Claverham of United Kingdom on top of the technological power accumulated by massive investments and gifted manpower development, and the successful implementation of high-performance trainer T-50. Hanwha has become a parts developer in eight categories in the Korea-type helicopter development project.
NO INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENT.
Hanwha has been staging the"No Industrial Disaster, No Environmental Incident and No Defect"campaign as one of management tenets. It has designed one day of each month as the "Environmental Safety Day to preempt diverse industrial disasters while making active investments into the development of technologies designed to improve. quality management and step up structural operation.
Hanwha Corp. Vice Chairman Rhee Soon-jong said Hanwha attaches top priority on ensuring safety. He said,"roduction stoppage, (caused by industrial disasters) could cost a huge loss per year, but it is meaningless to translate safety into money and nothing is more precious than human beings,"he noted.
Rhee said,"Reading many books, continuous self-development efforts are prerequisite for taking an insight into the current circumstances and predicting the future a step forward ahead of others."He also stressed responsibility and living within his or her means. Rhee has been with Hanwha Corp. for some 40 years after entering Korea Explosives in 1969. Vice Chairman Rhee was awarded with the Order of Industrial Service, Gold Tower, during the recent Commerce-Industry Day anniversary.
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 in 2005.
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 has launched its 10-year management strategy plan aimed at making preparations for the next decade by exploring new businesses and restructuring existing business focus. nw

Rhee Soon-jong, vice chairman of Hanwha Corp. is awarded with the Order of Industrial Service, Gold Tower by MOCIE Minister Kim Young-ju.