Top 50 Emerging Leaders 2022 (in alphabetical order by CVC unit): Hee Suk Jung, head of investment, SK Gas

Hee Suk Jung works for SK Gas, which represents the energy business of South Korea-headquartered diversified conglomerate SK Group. SK has the largest oil and gas business in the country and had the largest refinery complex in the world. However, SK is now determined to focus on sustainable energy, and Jung moved to Silicon Valley in mid-2018 to identify clean technology developers.

Jung leads the corporate venture capital (CVC) activities of SK Gas as the head of investment and he makes investments in energy transition, life sciences and construction technology startups and also supports project financing.

Jung enjoys CVC because he can work with new technologies, new people and new trends. He said: “If you work in a giant corporation like SK, it is not easy to be exposed to new technologies and new people so frequently.

“On the other hand, CVC is all about learning and discovering new things in the field and leading the transition of the whole company. CVC activities connect the current and future which creates more jobs, better work, better people and better hope for everyone.

“In addition, you get to think outside of the box. CVC allows me to meet many companies within the industry but also gets to meet many other companies who are in completely different industries.

“True innovation takes place when collaborating with companies that you never thought you could possibly have any connections to.

“Being in the open innovation space like this definitely attracted me to CVC and I plan to continue this momentum of discovering, connecting and creating.”

Edison Fu

Edison Fu is a reporter and Asia liaison at Global Corporate Venturing.