Han Woo Park is a business executive who developed a career in the automobile industry. His leadership skills were notable with credit for serving as the co-CEO of Kia Motors Corporation and concurrently served as the president.This changed when Kia suffered a loss of billions under his leadership. We were interested in learning more about him and how he ascended to such a high position. After looking into his career and how he built his curriculum vitae, here are 10 things we learned about him that you probably didn’t know.
1. Han Woo Park made a name for himself at Kia
Park served as the president and the co-CEO of Kia Motors Corporation since 2018. This was a tremendous undertaking not for the faint of heart. His tenure at Kia ended in April of 2020 after two years of leadership. Although he spent just two years at the post, Kia Motors is a large company that has been in the automotive business since December of 1944. The business not only manufactures, sells, and exports a range of mini buses, trucks, passenger cars, and commercial vehicles, it is also in the business of manufacturing auto parts as well as tools, fuel cell and hybrid electric technology. There are 32,442 employees working for Kia and Park was in charge of multiple aspects of the operation.
2. He sat on the board of directors
Han Woo Park was also a member of the board of directors for Kia Motors. This was a part of his executive responsibilities during his tenure as president and CEO of Kia Motors. He also at on the board of Hyundai Card Co. Limited, which is correlated with the Kia Motor Corporation.
3. He left Kia 2020
Park Han Woo began his career at Kia in 2014. in March of 2019, he was re-elected to the position of president and CEO, but due to changes in the marketing and business strategies, he made the decision to step down. A deal went down with Sorento for new hybrid certification where issues with a failure to meet the energy efficiency standards were discovered. One day after the Sorento contract was signed, the deal was terminated, which was an embarrassment for which Park took responsibility. He announced his plans to step down towards the end of March of 2020.
4. Controversial mistakes at Kia
Nobody’s perfect, but when you’re in charge of a multi-billion dollar company, there are certain expectations. The Sorento deal cost him greatly in terms of his reputation as a leader. It was expensive for the company and it was a situation that he possibly could have avoided if he had insisted on knowing more of the details about the standards required for certification of the new Sorento in advance, and compared them with the realities of the processes that Kia had employed in its design.
5. There are several variations of his name
We made some interesting discoveries about Mr. Park in our research. We found various references that refer to him as Park Han Woo, Park Han Wu, Han Woo Park, and Han Wu Park. Believing that these were different persons, we investigated further to confirm that multiple news agencies simply listed his name under a variety of spellings and arrangements. The majority stick with Han Woo Park, however.
6. He is believed to be 62 (as of this writing)
Han Woo Park is 62 years old. Although the site does not list any other information about the former business executive, such as his date of birth, or where he was born, it does give his current age as of 2020. The scant piece on his biography leaves us with more questions about his origins and business experience.
7. Park studied at Dankook University
Han Woo Park attended the Joongang High School, located in Daegu, where he successfully completed his studies. He made the decision to go to college to further his education. He enrolled in classes at Dankook University. He studied in the Business Administration program and earned his bachelor of science degree in this discipline.
8. He worked his way up the corporate ladder
When Park first started his career in the business end of the automotive industry, he started at Kia’s sister company. His first job was with the Hyundai Motor Company. His career launched in 1982, but it wasn’t as an executive. He worked hard to prove his merit and it began in the accounting department. He didn’t start at the top, but he had his eyes set on achieving higher levels of responsibility
9. Han Woo Park was promoted in 1999
After working at Hyundai for 19 years, Park was promoted to Branch Manager for Suwon of Hyundai Capital Services. He continued to work his way upwards, receiving another promotion as the Accounting Manage of th Research and Design Center in Namyang, for Hyundai. He became the CFO of Hyundai Motor India Limited in 2009. This was an impressive promotion and it showed the dedication that he had in his long and successful business career with Hyundai. In 2012 he was advanced to the position of Managing Director. He joined the Kia Motors Corporation in the role of CFO, then he was promoted to the Executive Vice President, and then as Chief Financial Officer and President prior to his election as the CEO of the company.
10.Han Woo Park is a private person
Our search for information for Park has shown us that he is a very private person. After leaving the Kia Motor Corporation, there hasn’t been any notable activity on social media or in the news. While this was a difficult time in his life, his prior record of service stands for years of dedication. He spent roughly 30 years working for Hyundai, the sister company of Kia, then Kia Motors. While it only took one bad deal to derail his long career in the industry, we can’t forget that we’re all human, and he has shown the world that he is a quite remarkable example of how to build a successful career over the years by staying the course. His error is something that happens more often than most people realize. We wish him the best as he moves forward.
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