Hanwha Group

Kim Jong-hee[lower-alpha 1] (Korean: 김종희; Hanja: 金鍾喜; MR: Kim Chonghui) founded Korea Explosives Co. in October 1952. Prior to founding the company, Kim worked as a gunpowder engineer for the 'Chosun Explosives Factory', a Japanese company. Later, he won the bid for the company and its Incheon factory and started the company there.[4][5] From 1952–1963, the Korea Explosives Co. produced gunpowder domestically, which was needed for construction and engineering of infrastructure. In the same time period, the Korea Explosives Co. started producing nitroglycerin, which gave it a monopoly in the field of explosives and gunpowder.[4] In 1959, the Hanwha group started producing domestic dynamite.[5] From 1964–1980 the Hanwha group started to make investments in various fields, starting the foundation of it becoming a chaebol. Later in the mid 1960s, Hwaseong Korea was founded (now Hanwha Solutions), and entered the petrochemical market. Hanwha increased its competitiveness in the machinery market by acquiring Shinhan Bearing Co.[4] Hanwha founded Gyeongin Energy in 1969, and the Korea Precision Industry (renamed to Hanwha Machinery Co., Ltd.) followed suit, being founded in 1971.[4] From 1981 to 1995, Kim Seung-yeon became the second president of the company, and more investments in diverse markets were initiated. It expanded further into the chemical industry by acquiring both Hanyang Chemical (now also Hanwha Solutions) and Korea Dow Chemical in 1982, expanded into the resorts industry by acquiring the Jung-A group (now Hanwha Hotels & Resorts) in 1985, and expanded into the leisure and distribution industry by acquiring Hanyang Distribution (now Hanwha Galleria) in 1986.[4] In the 1990s, the Hanwha Group founded Hanwha BASF Urethane, Hanwha NSK Precision, Hanwha GKN, Hanwha Machinery Hub Eye Bearings, SKF Hanwha Auto Parts, and Hanwha Motors. In 1992, the Korea Explosives Co. changed its name to Hanwha, and Binggrae was separated and made independent from the company.[4]

In 2002, Hanwha expanded into the life insurance industry by acquiring Korea Life Insurance. From 2007-present, Hanwha is undergoing global expansion. Hanwha acquired Azdel, an American company in 2007 and created a PvC plant in Ningbo, Zhejiang, China in 2011.[4] Hanwha Q CELLS was launched in 2012, and is now the 5th largest producer of solar cells in the world.[6] In 2014, Hanwha acquired Samsung Techwin, Samsung Thales, and Samsung Total.[4] Since 2019, Hanwha is operating the largest solar module plant (1.7 GW) in the United States; It is located in Dalton, Georgia.[7] As of 2019, Hanwha has a total of 466 affiliates, 84 being domestic and 382 overseas.[4]

In 2011, Kim Seung-yeon, the current chairman of the Hanwha Group, was fined 5.1 billion KRW and was jailed for 4 years on charges of embezzlement and breach of trust.[8][3]

Hanwha QCELLS is the 5th largest producer of solar cells in the world. In a meeting held on May 21st, 2022, Kim Dong-gwan, the president of Hanwha Solutions, laid down a plan to spend 36.7 trillion KRW on its energy and aerospace sectors,[9] and said he wanted to commit the company to solar energy to reduce its carbon footprint and supply high quality energy. Additionally, he announced plans to build another modular factory in the United States.[7] In order to tackle the problem of stagnating bee populations, Hanwha has created a solar beehive, that helps to protect and maintain a stable bee population.[10] Hanwha QCELLS has launched a new brand that ventures into the electric vehicle charging market called Hanwha Motiev in 2022.[11]

Hanwha is also extensively investing in the space market. Hanwha jointly established "Space Research Center" with KAIST, is developing urban air mobility with American company Over Air, testing an electric propulsion system that would be used in air taxis, and took a 8.8% stake in British company OneWeb, a satellite communication service provider as of 2022.[12]

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