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Two heads better than one for Samsung as company restores dual-CEO structure in shuffle

Published: 21 Nov. 2025, 17:15 Updated: 23 Nov. 2025, 17:44

Jun Young-hyun, vice chairman and head of the DS division, left, and Roh Tae-moon head of the DX division and CEO [SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS]

Samsung Electronics outlined its management direction for 2026 on Friday with top-level executive appointments that reflect a major shift in research and development (R&D) while maintaining stability in core business units.

The company announced replacements for the heads of research and development in both the Device Solutions (DS) and Device eXperience (DX) divisions, while retaining the dual roles held by key division leaders Jun Young-hyun and Roh Tae-moon — overseeing the memory and mobile experience businesses, respectively.

Dual roles as division heads and CEOs

Roh, who had been serving as acting head of the DX division, was officially appointed as the division head and also named CEO of Samsung Electronics.

“The two-CEO structure is being restored to strengthen the competitiveness of core businesses,” the company said.

Roh had been acting DX head since the hospitalization of his predecessor Han Jong-hee in April, while concurrently leading the Mobile eXperience (MX) division. Both roles have now been formalized.

Jun, vice chairman and head of the DS division, will also continue to serve as head of the Memory business.

Samsung said it is maintaining the dual-role system “to enhance the competitiveness and market leadership of the MX and Memory businesses.”

Jun, vice chairman and CEO of Samsung Electronics, speaks during a company anniversary event at a venue in Suwon, Gyeonggi, on Oct. 31. [NEWS1]

One of smallest reshuffles ever

The personnel shake-up was unusually small, with only one executive promoted to president and three executives receiving new assignments — the second-smallest reshuffle in Samsung’s history.

In 2017, no presidents or vice chairs were promoted, due to the aftermath of the political scandal involving the Park Geun-hye administration and the disbandment of Samsung’s Future Strategy Office.

The limited scope reflects Samsung’s commitment to business continuity. Despite posting a 15 trillion won ($10.2 billion) operating loss in its semiconductor division in 2023, the company regained the top spot in the DRAM market in the third quarter and secured major foundry contracts with clients such as Tesla.

The MX division also posted strong results driven by its Galaxy AI campaign, reinforcing the decision to maintain current leadership.

Appointments for heads of the Foundry and System LSI businesses under DS and the Visual Display, Digital Appliances, Networks and Medical Device businesses under DX were not announced Friday.

While the reshuffle at the president level has concluded, new appointments may follow next week if any of those roles are filled by executive vice presidents. While rare in DS, DX division heads are sometimes vice presidents.

Park Hong-kun, professor of chemistry at Harvard University, was appointed president of the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) [SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS]

Simultaneous R&D leadership changes

While keeping overall reshuffle minimal, Samsung Electronics made a significant statement by replacing the heads of R&D for both major divisions.

Park Hong-kun, a chaired professor at Harvard University, will join the company as president and lead the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT), the R&D arm of the DX division, starting Jan. 1.

Park holds a bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate in chemistry from Seoul National University and Stanford University. In 1999, he became a Harvard professor at the age of 32, and in 2004, he became the first Korean to receive tenure at the university.

It has been 30 years since Samsung appointed an outside expert directly to head SAIT. The last time was in 1995, when the company hired former University of Iowa professor and KAIST president Lim Kwan as director.

Since then, SAIT has typically been led by insiders from the semiconductor division. Hwang Sung-woo, who served from 2020 to 2021, was also a former professor, but he joined Samsung eight years before taking over SAIT.

Park is known for bridging basic science and engineering, and will lead research into next-generation technologies such as quantum computing and neuromorphic chips that mimic the human brain. Industry watchers view his appointment as a clear sign that Samsung intends to accelerate its quantum computing initiatives.

Yoon Jang-hyun, newly promoted to head of Samsung Research [SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS]

Yoon Jang-hyun, president and CEO of Samsung Venture Investment, was promoted to president and appointed as chief technology officer and head of Samsung Research, which oversees R&D for the DX division.

Yoon previously led the Internet of Things and Tizen development team and software platform team in the MX division. He moved to Samsung Venture Investment last year, where he oversaw investments in AI, robotics, biotech and semiconductors.

As head of Samsung Research, Yoon is expected to drive synergies between core products — such as mobile devices, TVs and home appliances — and future technologies like AI and robotics.

“To position ourselves at the forefront of the AI era, we have boldly appointed the best experts in each field,” Samsung said.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY SHIM SEO-HYUN [[email protected]]