'정의선 시대' 열렸다…현대차그룹 20년만에 총수 교체

South Korea's second biggest conglomerate, Hyundai Motor Group, has promoted its longtime heir apparent Chung Eui-sun to chairman.
This is Hyundai's first generational handover in 20 years.
Eum Ji-young has more.
Hyundai Motor Group's heir apparent Chung Eui-sun has been promoted to chairman of the Group.
He was approved as chairman on Wednesday in a special board meeting, replacing his father Chung Mong-koo, who is now in his 80s and took the post in 2000.
"I would like to inform all Hyundai employees around the world that as of today, our leader Chung Mong-koo is honorary chairman, and I am officially taking the post of chairman of Hyundai Motor Group."
Chung Eui-sun's promotion comes two years and a month after he was named executive vice chairman,... a role in which he has exercised increasingly visible leadership.
In particular, he's been leading the group's push to raise its status in the global markets for electric vehicles and hydrogen cars.
Chung has been meeting with the executives of local conglomerates like Samsung, SK and LG in the past couple of months, seeking to form an alliance in the supply of electric car batteries.
South Korean conglomerates like Hyundai have been transitioning to a new generation of leaders. The heads of the country's four largest conglomerates are under the age of 60.
Chung himself was born in 1970. The heir to Samsung Group, Lee Jae-yong, who is vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, was born in 1968.
The oldest head of the big four is the chairman of SK Group, Chey Tae-won, who was born in 1960, and the youngest is the chairman of LG Group, Koo Kwang-mo, who's in his early 40s.
They are said to meet on occasion, and experts say that if South Korean automakers and battery producers can work together, they could lead the world's electric car market.
Eum Ji-young Arirang News.