Hanwha Life Chief Global Officer and President Kim Dong-won (Hanwha Life)

Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-yeon’s second son, Kim Dong-won, president and chief global officer at Hanwha Life, is eyeing a bigger presence within his father’s business empire as he plays a key role in leading the global expansion of the group’s financial business.

Hanwha’s succession scheme is still taking shape, with the management control highly likely to be transferred to the chairman’s three sons. The eldest, Vice Chairman Kim Dong-kwan, is projected to take charge of the group’s flagship defense and energy businesses, while the youngest son, Hanwha Galleria Vice President Kim Dong-seon, is said to take over retail and leisure businesses.

The second son, Dong-won, is expected to be tasked with nurturing the group’s financial business through Hanwha Life, one of the nation’s top three life insurance carriers along with Kyobo Life and Samsung Life.

Hanwha’s six financial arms include Hanwha Life, Hanwha General Insurance, Hanwha Asset Management, Hanwha Investment & Securities, Hanwha Life Financial Service and Carrot General Insurance. Their consolidated net profit reached 1 trillion won ($722 million) last year.

Born in 1985, Dong-won majored in East Asian Studies at Yale University. In 2014, he joined Hanwha to work in its construction materials unit. Since relocating to Hanwha Life in 2015, he has held various positions, including corporate innovation executive and chief digital officer.

His presence became more visible in recent years, especially after being promoted to chief global officer and president last year.

More recently, he led the insurer’s bold investments in Indonesian companies such as Nobu Bank and affiliate Lippo General Insurance. Both entities were under the control of Indonesia's influential conglomerate, Lippo Group.

Hanwha Life's investment in Nobu Bank comes after the Korean regulators revised related regulations in December, streamlining the process for local insurers to invest in noninsurance companies overseas.

Taking advantage of the local lender’s retail channel, Hanwha Life seeks to step up sales of its insurance products in Indonesia, a market characterized by its fast-growing economy and young population. By establishing a regional base in Indonesia, the insurer aims to widen its reach throughout Southeast Asia.

"We will cultivate ‘glocalization,’ working out a balance of globalization and localization based on Hanwha Life’s experience, network and infrastructure," a Hanwha Life official said.

Dong-won and Lippo Group CEO John Riady have maintained friendly ties for years. Sources say their conversation at the Davos Forum in January became the cornerstone of the latest deals.

“When members of the founding family lead overseas expansion, the push can gain more momentum. They can earn the trust of foreign partners as they can play a role in speeding up overall decision-making by using their extensive human network,” said Oh Il-sun, director of Korea CXO Institute.

“With limits in the domestic market, many third-generation or younger chaebol scions are focusing on expanding their presence in overseas businesses," Oh said.

Under Kim’s leadership, Hanwha Life's Vietnamese subsidiary logged a cumulative profit last year for the first time since it was launched 15 years ago. It was the first overseas unit of a local insurer to post a cumulative profit.

Lee Suk-ho, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute of Finance, noted that Hanwha Life is heading in the right direction considering that local insurers face limits in Korea, with its chronically low birth rate and rapidly aging population.

“Overseas expansion is a critical agenda item for insurers here, as the local market is fast getting saturated,” he said. "Insurers can expand their business reach in other countries by joining hands with foreign asset managers and banks.”