Samyang Group Chairman Kim Yoon addresses employees at the 2026 Samyang Connect event held Tuesday at the Samyang Discovery Center in Pangyo, explaining the group's first-half business results and second-half strategic direction. [Samyang Group]
Samyang Group Chairman Kim Yoon addresses employees at the 2026 Samyang Connect event held Tuesday at the Samyang Discovery Center in Pangyo, explaining the group's first-half business results and second-half strategic direction. [Samyang Group]

Samyang Group held its 2026 Samyang Connect event Tuesday at Samyang Hall inside the Samyang Discovery Center in Pangyo.

Samyang Connect is a biannual in-house event where Chairman Kim Yoon personally shares first- and second-half business results and strategies with employees to foster unity and communication.

Reviewing the group's first-half performance, Kim said improved spreads on key chemical products had driven overall group earnings, while profitability also improved in specialty high-value-added materials businesses, including semiconductors and ion-exchange resins.

He said the group had generated meaningful results across its three core growth pillars — global, specialty and AX — citing the acquisition of Japanese fragrance company Soda Aromatic, the expansion of Samyang NC Chem's first-half earnings, and the launch of the group's AI platform SAMI 2.0.

Turning to the second half, Kim said the business environment could be summarized around three major challenges: geopolitical risk, supply chain disruptions and a K-shaped polarization of the economy. He added that the widening gap between companies that rapidly commercialize technological innovation and those that do not made it all the more important for Samyang to actively embrace AI.

Through the group's three management principles, Kim called for improvements in work productivity through AX — AI transformation — and a shift toward a specialty-focused business structure.

He urged all employees to internalize and apply three priorities in their work: upgrading the business portfolio around global and specialty operations, managing with a focus on cash flow, and embedding AI transformation. He also encouraged them to propose ideas freely and with an open perspective as the group advances toward becoming a global specialty company.

He closed by urging employees to achieve the goals set for this year through a spirit of bold challenge, fierce execution and principled management grounded in honesty and trust.

The event also featured segments designed to strengthen communication among employees, including a review of the group's proprietary AI platform and recognition of standout colleagues. It was livestreamed for employees at overseas and regional worksites who could not attend in person.


spa@heraldcorp.com