, former_name = Korea Explosives Group , type =

Public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

, traded_as = , industry = Conglomorate , founded = , founder =

Kim Chong-hee Kim Chong-Hee (1922–1981) was the founder of Hanwha Group and a leading figure of the South Korean explosives industry. Korea Explosives Corporation Kim established the Korea Explosives Corporation, a forerunner of the Hanwha , former_ ...

, hq_location_city =

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...

, hq_location_country =

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, area_served = Global , key_people =

Kim Seung-yeon Kim Seung-youn (; born February 7, 1952) is a South Korean businessman. He is currently the CEO of Hanwha , former_name = Korea Explosives Group , type = Public , traded_as = , industry = Conglomorate , founded = , founder = Kim Chong ...

(

Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...

and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

) , revenue= ₩72,890,000,000,000 (2020) , operating_income = ₩2,927,888,000,000(Hanwha Corp. only) , net_income = ₩19,327,000,000(Hanwha Corp. only) , num_employees = 43,690 , num_employees_year = 2020 , subsid = , owners = Estate of

(32.02%)
Hanwha through treasury stock (8.08%)

National Pension Service The National Pension Service of Korea (NPS; ) is a public pension fund in South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shari ...

(8.67%) , homepage = https://www.hanwha.co.kr/ (Korean)
https://www.hanwha.com (English) , footnotes = , intl = Hanwha Group () is a large business conglomerate (''

chaebol A chaebol (, ; ) is a large industrial South Korean conglomerate run and controlled by an individual or family. A chaebol often consists of multiple diversified affiliates, controlled by a person or group whose power over the group often exc ...

'') in

. Founded in 1952 as Korea Explosives Co. (), the group has grown into a large multi-profile business conglomerate, with diversified holdings stretching from explosives, their original business, to retail and financial services. In 1992 the company adopted its abbreviation as its new name: "Hanwha".

History

1952–1999

Kim Jong-hee Kim Jong-Hee (born 28 March 1986) is a South Korean field hockey player. At the 2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport even ...

() 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 Incheon (; ; or Inch'ŏn; literally "kind river"), formerly Jemulpo or Chemulp'o (제물포) until the period after 1910, officially the Incheon Metropolitan City (인천광역시, 仁川廣域市), is a city located in northwestern South Kore ...

factory and started the company there. From 1952–1963, the Korea Explosives Co. produced

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). T ...

domestically, which was needed for construction and engineering of infrastructure. In the same time period, the Korea Explosives Co. started producing

nitroglycerin Nitroglycerin (NG), (alternative spelling of nitroglycerine) also known as trinitroglycerin (TNG), nitro, glyceryl trinitrate (GTN), or 1,2,3-trinitroxypropane, is a dense, colorless, oily, explosive liquid most commonly produced by nitrating g ...

, which gave it a monopoly in the field of explosives and gunpowder. In 1959, the Hanwha group started producing domestic dynamite. 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. Hanwha founded Gyeongin Energy in 1969, and the Korea Precision Industry (renamed to Hanwha Machinery Co., Ltd.) followed suit, being founded in 1971. From 1981 to 1995,

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. 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.

2000–Present

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 American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

company in 2007 and created a PvC plant in

Ningbo Ningbo (; Ningbonese: ''gnin² poq⁷'' , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly romanized as Ningpo, is a major sub-provincial city in northeast Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises 6 urban districts, 2 sate ...

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Ji ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

in 2011. Hanwha Q CELLS was launched in 2012, and is now the 5th largest producer of

solar cells A solar cell, or photovoltaic cell, is an electronic device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect, which is a physical and chemical phenomenon.

in the world. In 2014, Hanwha acquired Samsung Techwin, Samsung Thales, and Samsung Total. Since 2019, Hanwha is operating the largest solar module plant (1.7 GW) in the United States; It is located in

Dalton Dalton may refer to: Science * Dalton (crater), a lunar crater * Dalton (program), chemistry software * Dalton (unit) (Da), the atomic mass unit * John Dalton, chemist, physicist and meteorologist Entertainment * Dalton (Buffyverse), minor ch ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. As of 2019, Hanwha has a total of 466 affiliates, 84 being domestic and 382 overseas.

Controversy

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.

Key networks

* R&D:

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

, USA,

, and

* Manufacturing: Germany,

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

, Malaysia, China, South Korea and USA * Marketing & Sales:

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

, USA, China, and South Korea

Business areas

Solar & Energy

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, 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. 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. Hanwha QCELLS has launched a new brand that ventures into the electric vehicle charging market called Hanwha Motiev in 2022.

Aerospace & Mechatronics

Hanwha is also extensively investing in the space market. Hanwha jointly established "Space Research Center" with

KAIST The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) is a national research university located in Daedeok Innopolis, Daejeon, South Korea. KAIST was established by the Korean government in 1971 as the nation's first public, resear ...

, 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. * Chemicals & Materials * Construction * Financial Services * Leisure & Lifestyle * E-sports

Affiliates

Hanwha Corporation

Hanwha Aerospace , type = Public , traded_as = , industry = Aerospace , genre = , fate = , predecessor = , successor = , founded = (as Samsung Precision) ...

Hanwha Techwin Hanwha Systems Hanwha Defense Hanwha Power Systems Hanwha Precision Machinery Hanwha Solutions Hanwha Impact Hanwha TotalEnergies Petrochemical Yeochun NCC Hanwha Engineering & Construction Hanwha Q Cells Hanwha Energy Hanwha City Development Hanwha Life Hanwha Asset Management Hanwha General Insurance Hanwha Savings Bank Hanwha Hotels & Resorts Hanwha Galleria Hanwha Galleria Timeworld Hanwha 63 City Hanwha Station Development Hanwha Eagles Hanwha Hotels & Resorts

Awards

* Old Tower Industrial Medal, November 1982 * $100 Million Export Tower Award, November 1982 * Silver Tower Industrial Medal and the $1 Billion Export Tower Award, November 1998 * Gold Tower Industrial Medal (45th Annual Trade Day Ceremony), December 2008 * $2 Billion Export Tower Award (45th Annual Trade Day Ceremony), December 2008

Sports teams

Hanwha Eagles The Hanwha Eagles ( ko, 한화 이글스) are a South Korean professional baseball team based in Daejeon. They are a member of the KBO League. The Eagles' home ballpark is Daejeon Hanbat Baseball Stadium. The Eagles have won the Korean Series on ...

Hanwha Life Esports Hanwha Life Esports (HLE) is a South Korean esports organization based in Seoul, owned by Hanwha Life Insurance. It has teams competing in ''League of Legends'' and '' Kart Rider'', with the former competing in the LCK, South Korea's top level p ...

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Chaebol Conglomerate companies established in 1952 Construction and civil engineering companies of South Korea Electrical engineering companies Engineering companies of South Korea Defence companies of South Korea Explosives manufacturers Holding companies of South Korea Multinational companies headquartered in South Korea Energy companies of South Korea Companies based in Seoul Companies listed on the Korea Exchange South Korean brands Construction and civil engineering companies established in 1952 1952 establishments in South Korea South Korean companies established in 1952 Manufacturing companies established in 1952