Unfinished life of Samsung man and Hanwha man

In Samsung Group, non-core subsidiaries are called "the latter." It is a sarcastic pun as Samsung Electronics, the group’s flagship and core subsidiary, is pronounced the same as "the former" (jeonja means `electronics`) in Korean. Samsung Electronics’ continuous success has given a birth to such a joke. Four Samsung affiliates have recently been sold to Hanwha Group. These affiliates including Samsung Techwin and Samsung General Chemicals have been treated as black sheep of the group.

Employees of Samsung Techwin and other three subsidiaries have feeling of loss. These 7,500 employees who had been under a big umbrella called Samsung have become Hanwha employees overnight. The agitation among these employees is understandable as they started their career at Korea’s No.1 conglomerate group but now ended up with No.9. It might feel like a bolt out of blue to new employees who received a notice of acceptance from Samsung. It is not easy to refuse in Samsung when the owner makes a decision. If these employees quit Hanwha, the contract between Hanwha and Samsung forbids Samsung to hire these employees within 3 years after leaving Hanwha. The employees may feel like a bride abandoned by her own parents on the wedding night.

Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee’s new management motto is "Change everything, except for your wife and children." In Samsung, where an employee without any string to pull or any educational background to boast can become an executive, competition is fierce while collaboration is weak. Hanwha Group’s motto is "Challenge, Devotion and Right path." Hanwha Chairman Kim Seung-yeon always says to the presidents of Hanwha`s subsidiaries, “Do not betray.” Hanwha started with the establishment of Korea Gunpowder in 1952 and most of its affiliates have been achieved through M&A. Such corporate culture makes a stark contrast to Samsung’s. Business leaders call Chairman Kim as master of M&A. No affiliate of Hanwha has grown from scratch.

It has been 12 years since Hanwha acquired Daehan Life Insurance from Shindonga Group in 2002 and changed its name to Hanwha Life Insurance. But insiders say the life insurance company has still not fully harmonized with other Hanwha affiliates. Some people cynically say, “They (the former Samsung subsidiary employees) went through hardship to enter a Korea’s top university, but they are sent to a mid-level university because the department is abolished.” However, sometimes, a chicken head might be better off than a cow tail. Chemical and defense industries, which were on the backburner in Samsung, are cherished in Hanwha. Recently, a TV series titled Misaeng (Incomplete Life), which describes difficulties of office workers, enjoys great popularity. Samsung men of the four affiliates sold to Hanwha will continue to make their own stories in their lives at Hanwha.