Hanwha Life CEO and Vice Chair Yeo Seung-joo is stepping down to return to the parent group, Hanwha Group, where he will lead its management support division in a broader group-level role.
Hanwha Group announced Friday that Yeo has been tapped as the head of its management division, with his official transition expected in early July, according to industry sources.
Yeo has led Hanwha Life since 2019 and was promoted to vice chairman in 2023.
Born in 1960, Yeo has spent nearly four decades at Hanwha, joining in 1985 via former affiliate Kyung In Energy.
He rose through the ranks across various units and is widely recognized as a mergers and acquisitions expert. As head of strategy at Hanwha’s management planning division, he played a key role in the 2014 acquisition of Samsung Group’s defense and chemical affiliates — assets that have since become growth engines for Hanwha.
Yeo also has deep financial expertise, having briefly served as CEO of Hanwha Investment & Securities in 2016 and later as head of finance at the group level, before joining Hanwha Life in 2018 as the head of business operations.
Under his seven-year leadership, the insurer expanded significantly, launching Hanwha Life Financial Service, now Korea’s largest general agency subsidiary, in 2022 to reinforce its sales network. He also pushed for overseas growth, acquiring a controlling stake in US brokerage Velocity last year and steering the company toward securing a banking license in Indonesia, now in its final stages.
With Yeo’s departure, Hanwha Life will shift to a co-CEO system led by Kwon Hyek-woong, former CEO and vice chairman of Hanwha Ocean, and Lee Kyung-geun, CEO of Hanwha Life Financial Service.
Kwon is expected to oversee overall operations as a professional manager, while Lee brings specialized experience in insurance to guide core business strategies.
jwc@heraldcorp.com
