On January 6, a New Year’s meeting to open the year 2025 was held at the SeAH Tower in Seoul, attended by SeAH employees. The SeAH members reaffirmed their determination to create new opportunities and leap forward even in an unstable environment, and together celebrated the energetic start of the year of the blue snake, ‘Eulsa Year (乙巳年)’.

This year’s New Year’s meeting was more than just an annual event, as it provided an opportunity to renew minds and share healthy energy.

The beginning of 2025 is in a phase where concerns surpass positive expectations due to various issues. SeAH is also facing some uncertainties, but its employees are united with a firm determination to overcome the crisis.

To reaffirm this determination and engrave it in their minds, a 2025 New Year’s meeting was held at the SeAH Tower on January 6. The meeting began with CEO Yang, Youngju of SeAH Holdings, delivering a New Year’s greeting to the employees gathered in the auditorium.

First, the opening video, 2025 brand film titled ‘I’m STEEL Here’, has been released, a story of a child who develops a dream of space exploration through encounters and farewells with ‘Captain SeAH’, a robot made of steel. The video conveyed the importance of steel as a core material that has been used in various industries over time and will continue to play a crucial role in future advanced industries such as aerospace and renewable energy. Employees watched the brand film while looking forward to SeAH's continued growth in 2025.

After the brand film screening, the ‘2024 SeAH Achievement Award’ ceremony was held. The ‘SeAH Achievement Award’ is an award established to honor and encourage employees who have contributed to the company’s development by recognizing their outstanding achievements every year. In 2024, two gold awards, five silver awards, and two special awards were selected as winners, with the ceremony concluding with the announcement of the gold award-winning team after introducing the silver and special awards.

First, the silver award went to SeAH Steel’s ‘Development of new SAGD products for pioneering the Canadian market and securing global competitiveness’ project. Ha Jeong-woo, a manager, and eight others were recognized for developing X80-grade steam line pipes for sand oil drilling, the first in Korea, and successfully commercializing the product, thereby opening up the Canadian oil sand market that had been monopolized by Japanese companies.

The second silver award was given to SeAH CSS’s ‘Development of GEN5 Forged Block for Fluid End’ project. Seo Bo-kyung, a manager, and nine others were recognized for developing GEN 5 through technological development and facility improvement, realizing high profits and establishing a foundation for entering the new Forged Block market.

The third silver award was for ‘Securing and delivering the largest CLAD order’ project by InoxTech’s Ramazzina Monica and nine others. They successfully secured a large order for CLAD pipes used in offshore gas field development projects and ensured stable supply, greatly contributing to the company’s increased profits.

The fourth silver award went to SeAH Steel’s ‘Achieving the largest sales and high profitability for Premium Conductor casings for Aramco’ project. Lee Se-young, a manager, and three others were recognized for achieving the highest non-American profitability in a single project by selling casings for Premium Conductors for Aramco, despite the downturn in the North American market and worsening domestic market conditions, and for successfully diversifying the market.

The fifth silver award was given to Lee Chang-ju, a deputy manager at SeAH Coated Metal, and three others for ‘Expanding aluminum color-coated steel plate sales and improving profitability through new demand development and AI utilization’. They developed an AI-based aluminum price prediction model and applied it to raw material management, expanding profitability, and achieved the highest-ever sales of SeAH Coated Metal’s aluminum color-coated steel plates by developing new demands and introducing architectural design sales.

Following the silver awards, the special awards ceremony was held. The first special award went to SeAH Coated Metal’s ‘Achieving zero industrial accidents through ESG safety and health win-win cooperation activities’. Jung Myong-jae, a deputy manager, and seven others were recognized for achieving two years of zero accidents with 12 partner companies through safety and health cooperation activities, and they won the Minister of Employment and Labor Award.

The second special award was given to Yang Jeong-sun, a deputy manager at SeAH Besteel, and ten others for ‘Increasing operating profits through large casting cost reduction and quality improvement’. They reduced the large casting process costs by shortening heating times and improving casting methods, and significantly reduced quality rejection costs by strengthening preventive quality measures, successfully increasing the scale of profitability in 2024 after achieving the first profit in 2023.

Finally, the highlight of the achievement awards, the gold awards, was presented. The first gold award went to SeAH Besteel’s ‘Strengthening cost competitiveness through sustainable scrap procurement’ project. Park Jae-Gyeong, a deputy manager, and 13 others were recognized for significantly contributing to stable raw material procurement and cost competitiveness by expanding the use of lightweight scrap in preparation for future pig iron shortages due to the conversion of blast furnaces to electric furnaces. They were particularly recognized for their outstanding achievements in maintaining quality standards while increasing the amount of lightweight scrap used by combining changes in operation methods with new steelmaking technologies, thereby laying the groundwork for continuous improvements in steelmaking capabilities.

The second gold award was given to SeAH CSS’s ‘Development of new technology to reduce nitrogen oxides and improvement of facilities to respond to environmental regulations’ project led by Park Jae-wan, a deputy manager, and nine others. They successfully met nitrogen oxide concentration regulations at minimal cost by applying new technologies instead of introducing high-cost concentration reduction facilities such as SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction). This achievement was highly recognized as it not only strengthened environmental business competitiveness but also influenced the Ministry of Environment's policy direction and regulatory revisions while obtaining permits for improved facilities.

The SeAH Management Award ceremony also took place. The 2024 SeAH Management Award was given to SeAH Aerospace & Defense for its outstanding achievements in four areas: competitiveness, future growth, management innovation, and talent development. SeAH Aerospace & Defense was recognized for establishing a long-term growth foundation by expanding global airline certifications and building a direct trading structure with Boeing, a U.S. aircraft manufacturer, as well as for achieving the company’s best-ever management performance through expanded new orders and improved aircraft production capabilities.

Then, a ceremony for presenting appointment certificates to the new executives who will lead SeAH’s future was held. Before the ceremony, a video was screened that conveyed warm and sincere messages of encouragement from new executives 20 years ago, using AI technology, along with their impressions and aspirations.

Additionally, a meaningful event was prepared to honor the efforts of employees who have dedicated to SeAH’s growth and development over a long period through a 30-year service award. Lee, Howard Whi Young, vice chairman of SeAH Steel, Youn Chan-sik, executive director of SeAH Besteel, Jang Yong-jin, director of SeAH Besteel, Yoon Han-min, director of SeAH Special Steel, and Kim Hee-dae, director of SeAH Steel received the award.

The ‘Listening to the CEO’ session had been led by SeAH Special Steel’s CEO, Lee, Kanghyun, by delivering a lecture on ‘SeAH Special Steel’s growth and preparation for the future’. CEO Lee explained SeAH Special Steel’s concerns about survival and growth, dividing them into domestic and international markets, and presented growth plans to overcome these challenges. He also introduced SeAH Special Steel’s strategies for survival and growth through market expansion and securing technological capabilities, as well as the main strategies and directions for 2025. Finally, Lee concluded his lecture by saying, “Since all of this is a task that we create together with our members, making our organizational culture more flexible is also an important part.”

The final part of the New Year’s meeting was the New Year’s speech by Chairman Lee, Soon-Hyung. He mentioned that the current management environment is in a series of uncertainties that make it difficult to predict the future, emphasizing the need to transform crises into opportunities rather than dwelling on worries and anxieties. Chairman Lee continued by stating that increasing productivity and cost competitiveness are the keys to maintaining a competitive edge, especially when external conditions are challenging. To achieve this, he suggested consolidating existing competitiveness in the domestic market and establishing a solid foundation in overseas markets by putting large ongoing projects back on track, thereby overcoming the barriers of protectionism. Finally, Chairman Lee expressed his sincere New Year’s greetings, saying, “Although there are many concerns ahead in 2025, I hope that SeAH will become even more prosperous with the strong steps and determination of SeAH employees, and that great achievements will accompany each and every employee’s future.”

After the New Year’s meeting ended, attendees sent each other warm applause and encouragement as they energetically embarked on the new year. Growth is often achieved during difficult times rather than peaceful ones. Although SeAH’s journey in 2025 will not be easy, I believe that the collective strength of SeAH employees will lead to a great leap forward.