HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co., Ltd.

South Korea's Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co., Ltd., or KSOE, is one of the world's largest shipbuilders. Formerly known as Hyundai Heavy Industries, it split it into two, KSOE and newly created HHI, in May 2019. KSOE has become a holding company, putting HHI under its wing.

The company is one of the largest manufacturers in South Korea after Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor and others, with annual sales of around 50 trillion won.

Shipbuilding and oil refining are the company's two main sources of revenue. It also conducts business in areas such as offshore and engineering, construction equipment and electro electric systems.

The company's specialization in high-value-added vessels such as liquefied natural gas carriers and drill ships propelled it to the top of the shipbuilding industry in terms of volume years ago. Earnings, however, are precarious because of increased competition from Chinese rivals since the 2008 global financial crisis.

In the year ended December 2014, the company logged its biggest operating loss since its 1973 founding. It is now implementing structural reforms such as consolidating its group businesses, cutting jobs and reducing salaries. Unlike Hyundai Motor, which has a powerful labor union, relations between staff and management at Hyundai Heavy Industries are favorable. However, its unionized workers in 2014 staged their first strike in about 20 years to protest against the structural reforms.

Chung Mong-joon, the sixth son of the Hyundai conglomerate founder Chung Ju-yung, is the company's major shareholder. Chung, who has also served as chairman of the Korea Football Association and a member of the National Assembly, has decisive influence over the management of the company. Chung is expected to pass the baton to his son in the future.