Analog Devices’ country manager post for South Korea has been vacant for a couple of months, with the company saying it has now intention of naming someone to the post for the short-term.
Previous Head of Korea, Hong Sa-kwak, stepped down on October 2020. Analog Devices’ Asia Pacific (APAC) arm was overseeing the South Korea operation as of then.
Analog Device is expected to not name a country manager for South Korea, even after its acquisition of Maxim Integrated is completed in the second half of the year, with APAC continuing to overseeing the country.
Hong was named Head of United SiC Korea as of December 2020. Analog Devices invested into United SiC in 2019. Analog Devices is said to have offered the post to Hong after he stepped down as country manager. United SiC Korea has Hong alone as the registered employee and uses third-parties for sales.
Hong was the country manager of South Korea for Analog Devices since 2017. He was the country manager for 19 years for Linear Technology prior to that. Linear was acquired by Analog Devices. Hong was named country manager of South Korea, rare for an employee of an acquired firm, for his business acumen.
Hong worked as an engineer at Samsung Electronics, Texas Instrument and National Semiconductor prior to his move to Linear.
Maxim Integrated has also made changes to its post of country manager of South Korea at a similar time. Previous manager HJ Choi stepped down in October and
Sophie Han became the new country manager. Han joined Maxim Korea in 2004 and led the company’s customer operations. She previously worked at CTS Corporation.
It is no uncommon for foreign semiconductor companies to change country managers. Most Korean offices focus on sales and marketing, and the companies will change their leadership if earnings are lackluster or their main business focus changes.
Analog Devices announced in July last year that it was acquiring Maxim Integrated for US$20.9 billion. The deal is expected to close this year after approvals from regulators and shareholders.
