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Hanwha Defence Australia has announced a new leadership change as Richard Cho steps down as managing director of the company.
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After a decade with Hanwha, it was announced that inaugural Hanwha Defence Australia (HDA) managing director Richard Cho has stepped down from the company, effective 2 May 2024.
Founded in 2019, HDA has previously been awarded two multibillion dollar programs from the Commonwealth of Australia for the Australian Army in the Huntsman self-propelled howitzer and the Redback Infantry Fighting Vehicle programs in 2021 and 2023, respectively.
“It is time for the next generation of leadership to guide HDA into the future,” Cho said.
“I’m very proud of the work we have done in Australia, bringing significant expertise and investment from South Korea to Australia. The hard work and dedication of the team will continue to develop and deliver capabilities to our customer. Developing and working with the HDA team has been an honour.
“In less than five years, HDA has been able to enter the Australian market to compete and win against the best the world has to offer. The $200 million investment in the Hanwha Armoured vehicle Centre of Excellence (H-ACE) will open later this year and will stand testament to the long-term value that we have brought to the Geelong region, Australia, and the growing relationship between Australia and South Korea.”
The company has announced that HDA’s director of operations, Dean Michie, will become acting managing director from 3 May this year.
Earlier this week, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles announced that Australian and Korean relations is at an all-time historic high and is set to continue to rise.
Minister Marles has recently undertaken meetings with Korean leadership at the Australia–Korea 2+2 Foreign and Defence Ministers’ meeting. He also recently attended the Hanwha Armoured Vehicle Centre of Excellence site in Geelong.
“(The Hanwha site) is a significant investment in Australia’s defence industry and a great example of how Australia and the Republic of Korea are working together to strengthen our industrial bases,” he said.
“Last year, the Albanese government signed a $4.5 billion contract with Hanwha for the production of 129 locally built Redback infantry fighting vehicles. Building these here will support 1,800 direct local jobs, with dozens of Australian defence industry and manufacturing companies to also contribute.
“As my counterpart, National Defense Minister Shin, and I had the opportunity to see today, momentous progress is being made towards the delivery of this important capability.
“Our two countries are more strategically aligned now than at any point in our history and we look forward to discussing how we can continue to work together to meet our shared strategic circumstances.”
