Kim, the eldest son of Hanwha Group chairman Kim Seung-youn, has been chief commercial officer at Hanwha Q Cells, the group’s solar power unit, since 2014. He is credited for spearheading the group’s solar growth strategy and playing a key role in the solar cell-maker’s turnaround.

The promotion, announced as part of the group’s annual leadership reshuffle, is based on performance only, the group said in a statement.

“Especially those who yield a competent result on the solar energy business and downtown duty-free store project were considered for the executive-level promotions,” a company official explained. 

Hanwha Q Cells in the third quarter reported its best performance ever, with $427 million in sales and $52.4 million in net profit, thanks to increased shipments of photovoltaic modules.

Kim, 32, studied at Harvard University and joined the group in 2010. He was promoted to a managing director in January this year and continued to serve as Hanwha Q Cells’ CCO.

The group made 114 executive-level promotions, including four vice presidents, 10 executive directors and 36 managing directors.

The group said it also promoted two Hanwha Q Cells directors -- Europe and America president Lee Gu-young and downstream business director Shin Ji-ho -- to executive directors for taking a lead in the company’s global expansion and revenue growth.

Hong Won-seok and Kim Young-hoon at Hanwha Galleria, a retail unit of the group, received promotions to managing director and assistant managing director, respectively, after clinching a high-profile bid to operate duty-free stores in downtown Seoul in July.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)