Hyundai elevates coordination organization to business unit

[Courtesys of Hyundai Motor Group]

South Korean auto giant Hyundai Motor Group has expanded its Global Policy Office (GPO), an overseas coordination organization, to a business division, in a move seen as part of Hyundai‘s recent efforts to hire foreign affairs experts to actively respond to global geopolitical challenges.

According to industry sources on Monday, Hyundai Motor Group recently boosted the GPO’s scale by recruiting Woo Jung-yeop, a former director-general for strategy at the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and elevated the office to the business division level.

The GPO, led by Vice Chairman Kim Il-bum, a former protocol secretary to President Yoon Suk Yeol, was founded in August 2023 to strengthen the company’s overseas coordination efforts and systematize its coordination tasks. The GPO is known to have a workforce in the double digits.

Through this reorganization, Hyundai Motor Group aims to reinforce its position as the third-largest global player in the increasingly competitive automotive market. As the growing influence of geopolitical risks worldwide grows, it is affecting various aspects of the automotive business, including production and sales. Under these circumstances, Hyundai Motor Group is focusing on recruiting external talents with diplomatic expertise.

The company hired Vice Chairman Kim Il-bum, who has a wide overseas network and experience in performing overseas strategic tasks in government and business in May 2023 and appointed former U.S. Ambassador to Korea, Sung Kim, as an advisor in December of the same year.