SK Shieldus appoints former Samsung SDS president as new CEO

South Korean security company SK Shieldus announced on Tuesday that it has appointed Hong Won-pyo, former president of Samsung SDS, as its new CEO and vice chairman.

Mr. Hong has served as a researcher at Bell Labs in the U.S., executive vice president of KT, and president of Samsung Electronics, and served as CEO and president of Samsung SDS from 2015 to 2021.

At Samsung Electronics, he led the global expansion of the smartphone business, and at Samsung SDS, he discovered and nurtured new information technology (IT) services such as smart factories, cloud, artificial intelligence (AI), big data analytics and blockchain.

SK Shieldus expects Mr. Hong to open up a new paradigm in the security industry with his wealth of experience and global capabilities and lead the company's expansion into overseas security markets.

EQT Partners AB, a private equity fund affiliated with the Wallenberg Group, Sweden's largest business conglomerate, became the largest shareholder of SK Shieldus in July with a 68% stake in the company through a stake acquisition and rights issue.

SK Square Co. is the second largest shareholder with a 32% stake and will participate in the joint management of SK Shieldus.

Write to Hyung-Chang Choi at calling@hankyung.com