SK’s Chey says survival is now top priority over profits

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won says that survival now takes top priority over profits and management efficiency as escalating tensions between the US and China could lead to a military conflict between the two countries under the worst-case scenario.

“Now the top priority is finding ways to survive under any scenario,” the chairman of South Korea’s second-largest business group told Korean correspondents in Washington D.C. on Thursday.

“We are opting to be on the safe side rather than maximizing profits and management efficiency as we did in the past. We are preparing for various scenarios, which encompass a possible military conflict between the US and China over Taiwan.”

Regarding the US' ban of exports of high-tech chips and devices to China, Chey said the move could lead to diverting new investments by SK Hynix Inc., the world’s second-largest memory chipmaker, into other production bases.

“If such devices are not allowed into China, our plant there will become old and difficult to upgrade,” Chey said in a news conference. “If so, we cannot help but find other places to invest, or build plants somewhere else.”

Hynix operates a semiconductor plant in Wuxi, China.

Asked if the US-China conflict could result in a reduction in SK's investments in China, he said: “I am preparing for a wide range of scenarios, from the most extreme to maintaining the status quo,” he said.

When it comes to the US Inflation Reduction Act, Chey said the new law reflects the decoupling trend, which could either pose a higher risk to Korean companies or benefit them.

Write to In-Seol Jeong at surisuri@hankyung.com
Yeonhee Kim edited this article.