On 1 April 2019, Rho Jae-sok was officially confirmed as CEO of SK IE Technology at the company’s inaugural board meeting. The appointment coincided with the official launch of SK IE Technology, a spin-off of SK Innovation’s material unit and wholly owned subsidiary of SK Innovation, SK Group’s energy and chemical arm. Rho Jae-sok had previously led SK Innovation’s material business unit.

SK Group is South Korea’s third-biggest conglomerate, comprising 95 subsidiary companies, and is increasing its focus on battery technology for electric vehicles (EV). CEO and President Rho says the spin-off will “help the company grow into a global material solution provider and take the lead in the global market.”

SK IE Technology already holds the world’s second largest market share of lithium-ion battery separators (LiBS). The new subsidiary will manufacture these core components for EVs, and flexible displays, with planned mass production of its flexible cover window (FCW), a flexible film for foldable displays.

The company plans to expand current production capacity from 360 million square meters to 530 million square meters with the addition of two additional LiBS production facilities at its Jeungpyeong, North Chungcheong Province plant in South Korea. SK IE Technology is targeting 1.21 billion square meters annual LiBS production capacity, with further capacity enhancements to include a 340 million square meter production plant in Changzhou, China, and a factory in Slaskie, Poland, due to begin production in the second half of 2021.