First from LG and Samsung
LG InnoTek CEO Jeong Cheol-dong will become the next chairman of the Korea Printed Circuit Association (KPCA), TheElec has learned.
It is the first time that a CEO of a major conglomerate such as Samsung and LG to take the post.
After he becomes chairman, Jeong will work to foster the local printed circuit board industry and maintain good relationships with the government.
Back in June, current chairman Baek Tae-il visited Jeong personally to offer the job. The LG InnoTek accepted it in late July.
KPCA will hold a board meeting near the end of the year to give Jeong the official nomination.
Jeong will take the post early next year and lead the association for three years.
His naming to the post has been considered unusual by those in working at local PCB companies. There has been never been a president level person from Samsung and LG to take the job so far. Back in 2003, the first KPCA chairman Park Wan-hyuk was an executive of Samsung Electro-Mechanics but he wasn’t a president but a senior vice president of the board business at the company.
Most people working at a PCB company that TheElec talked to are welcoming Jeong’s nomination.
LG InnoTek and Samsung Electro-Mechanics has multiple businesses besides PCBs such as camera modules so it was rare for a CEO of the entire company to head the KPCA, one CEO of a local PCB company said.
Jeong’s naming to the chairmanship will strengthen the KPCA organization and increased its negotiation leverage with the government, he added.
KPCA has been considered a lower tier organization to Korea Semiconductor Industry Association and Korea Display Industry Association. The latter associations are both headed by president-level executives of Samsung and LG.
KPCA has some 160 member companies including LG InnoTek, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Daeduck Electronics and Korea Circuit and there has been calls for the organization to be more proactive.
Meanwhile, LG InnoTek itself is expected to step up its PCB business after Jeong’s naming to the chairmanship of KPCA. LG InnoTek is looking to expand its semiconductor board business on the wake of the shortage of boards.
