Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-yeon presented securing original technologies, including AI-based defense, as a key task for 100-year competitiveness. Hanwha Group said Kim, in a 2026 New Year message on Jan. 2, set securing future-leading technologies as the top priority.

Kim stressed that owning original technologies in key business areas such as AI defense will determine enduring competitiveness over 50 years and 100 years. Hanwha led South Korea-U.S. industrial cooperation symbolised by MASGA last year. Kim said the group must shoulder greater responsibility and a larger role as it is recognised as an essential engine for industry and society.

Kim said global competition is intensifying due to regional bloc formation and gaps in production costs. He said barriers to entering markets are rising amid low growth and weakening potential. He urged the group to devote full efforts to securing future-leading technologies across all business areas, including defense, aerospace, maritime, energy, materials, finance, machinery and services. He explained that holding original technologies is the only way to break through competition and stay ahead over the long term.

On MASGA, Kim urged the group to make plans and execute them with the resolve to take full responsibility, centered on the Philly Shipyard in the United States. He stressed that, as the linchpin and core partner in South Korea-U.S. relations, the group should broaden and deepen shipbuilding cooperation between the two countries through the construction of warships and nuclear-powered submarines.

Kim said the group should become a strategic partner trusted in global markets in every business area. He said that, based on experience such as submarine contract competitions, it should build trust by first considering the position of its business counterpart.

He also set out tasks by business. In energy, he urged an active response to rapidly changing global policies and environmental changes. In materials, he called for restoring competitiveness in response to petrochemical restructuring.

In finance, he called for expanding business into global markets through combining digital assets and AI, while leading trends in global financial markets. In services, he said the group should create a growth model by maximising synergies with the machinery division, including AI, robotics and automation businesses. Kim said balanced growth is possible when a service spirit that focuses on people and serves people remains alive.

Kim reaffirmed the shared-growth management principle, "Together Far," which he has emphasised for the past 15 years. He cited a recent case in which Hanwha Ocean decided to match bonuses for workers at partner companies to the same rate as directly employed workers. Kim said, "Workers at partner companies are also members of Hanwha, and the local community is also the ground for Hanwha's business," adding that stable process maintenance, steady productivity improvements and sustained business results are possible when the group works together with partner companies and local communities.

He also stressed the safety-first principle. Kim said safety is a core value for a sustainable Hanwha. Saying, "Performance cannot replace life," he urged leaders at all sites to inspect safety systems with the resolve to protect lives and to establish effective safety standards on the ground.