Hanwha Ocean (042660.KS) has begun recruiting outside specialists for a newly created submarine development unit, after promoting Choi Jung-hoon, a strategy executive from within the group, to lead it. Having completed its executive reshuffle and reorganization ahead of all other top-10 conglomerates, the shipbuilder is moving quickly on nuclear-powered submarine development, one of the biggest issues facing the defense industry.
Hanwha Ocean began selecting staff on the 8th for the Jangbogo-N Development Unit, a new organization within its Special Ship Business Division, according to defense industry sources on the 12th. The move came one week after the company named Choi as the unit's first head in an executive reshuffle and reorganization on the 1st. Choi previously served as head of the strategy team at Hanwha's strategy division and as head of the strategic planning office at Hanwha's global division, before taking charge of planning at Hanwha Ocean's Special Ship Business Division last year.
The recruitment covers design for linking nuclear and propulsion systems, piping layout and stress analysis, instrumentation and control (I&C) interface design, nuclear licensing and safety regulation, and nuclear quality assurance. Hanwha Ocean will accept applications through the 25th and select candidates from among specialists with at least five years of experience in nuclear power or related fields.
This is the first time Hanwha Ocean has publicly recruited outside talent for the core work of fitting nuclear propulsion systems into the limited space, weight and shock conditions of a warship, and of ensuring the integrity and maintainability of piping and support structures.
Hanwha Ocean has taken part in building all of the South Korean Navy's Jangbogo I, II and III submarines over several decades, and the submarine expertise it has accumulated has made it widely seen as the best partner to design and build a nuclear-powered submarine with domestic technology, with launch targeted for the mid-2030s. To that end, the company plans to keep expanding hiring and to consolidate external cooperation with the government, the Navy and other related agencies through the new unit, building an integrated public-private partnership framework.
"Hanwha Ocean's Special Ship Business Division is leading South Korea's warship business on the strength of world-class warship technology," Choi said. "Unlike existing reactors for land-based and commercial vessels, this involves an entirely new reactor environment that requires sharp turns, rapid maneuvering and mitigation of explosive shock. By recruiting nuclear specialists in advance, we will diligently prepare for this core national project."