Cho Hyun-bum takes 1st step toward return to management of Hankook & Company

Cho Hyun-bum, chairman of Hankook & Company, the holding company of Hankook Tire & Technology, has taken his first public step toward returning to management after being released on parole last month, attending a groupwide strategy meeting focused on artificial intelligence transformation (AX). Cho attended the group’s affiliate innovation meeting held Thursday and Friday in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province, the company said Monday. It marked his first publicly disclosed management-related activity since his release. The meeting brought together about 50 senior executives from Hankook & Company and other affiliates. Cho’s participation is seen as the beginning of his return to the group’s management, although the company said the meeting did not represent a full-fledged return and that a specific timeline has not yet been decided. Cho was released on parole on July 30, about a month before completing his prison term. He was convicted of embezzlement and breach of trust and sentenced to two years in prison, with the Supreme Court upholding the sentence in May. The two-day meeting covered si