Hyundai Mobis CEO runs for ISO president as first Korean candidate

Hyundai Mobis Co. CEO Cho Sung-hwan has registered as a candidate for the next presidential election of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

Cho chose to run for a two-year term from January 2024, the South Korean auto parts maker and Korean Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS) announced on Monday. KATS, under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy of Korea, is ISO’s member body representing the country.

The ISO is the world’s largest standards organization in terms of the number of standards published, 24,000 to date. Having one member per country, it has a total of 165 members as of end-2020.

According to the organization, standards impact an estimated 80% of world commodity trade, which means the ISO members can achieve significant economic benefits by access to the global standards community.

The ISO president chairs its General Assembly and board of directors, wielding a great amount of leverage in decision-making processes. The President’s Committee advises ISO Council, monitors the effectiveness of ISO governance processes, as well as oversees the implementation of the ISO Council and the General Assembly decisions.

Korea ranks fifth in ISO Technical Committee participation, following China, France, Germany and the UK, but this is the first time a Korean member has run for president. Six Asian members, from China, Japan, India and Singapore, have taken up the role in the past.

Cho has proven his acumen as an exceptional business leader with rich experience in international affairs, equipped with a solid understanding of international standards and linguistic fluency, KATS said.

He is a strong candidate in view of his accomplishments at Hyundai Mobis, for empowering new business models and electric vehicle movements, as well as his extroverted contribution to creating connections across diverse industries, KATS added.  

The election will be held in September at the ISO General Assembly in Abu Dhabi, where the candidate who receives the highest number of votes from the 124 full members will win. The president-elect will participate in ISO affairs for one year alongside current President Ulrika Francke, whose term ends in 2023, before their official inauguration in 2024.

In addition to Cho, Decheung Wang, chairman and secretary of the party committee of the China Academy of Machinery Science and Technology Group, will also compete in the election, according to KATS.

Write to Han-Shin Park at phs@hankyung.com
Jihyun Kim edited this article.