Joo Yong Chung

Joo-Yong Chung is a South Korean investment and corporate-development executive. REC Silicon’s 2024 annual report lists her as Head of M&A and Executive Vice President at Hanwha Aerospace, with prior roles as Managing Director and Head of PE at UTC Investment and Daesang Group from 2018 to 2021, Director at MBK Partners from 2008 to 2017, and Vice President at The Carlyle Group from 2004 to 2008.

Her earlier background includes strategy consulting and public-sector work. Equilar’s biography, sourced to Eutelsat Communications, says she worked at Boston Consulting Group in Seoul and Boston and as a senior government official at Korea’s National Statistics Office before moving into private equity. The same source says she has a B.A. in Economics from Seoul National University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

At UTC Investment, Chung led private equity activity at a Seoul-based firm founded in 1988. UTC describes its investment approach as combining venture capital, growth capital, and buyout experience, with active “value-up” work in bio/healthcare, lifestyle, and IT/semiconductor.

Since joining Hanwha Group in August 2022, Chung has focused on M&A, strategic minority investments, bolt-on acquisitions, deal execution, and post-merger integration. She also serves in governance roles connected to Hanwha’s strategic holdings: REC Silicon’s 2024 annual report lists her as Deputy Chair, and Eutelsat announced in March 2024 that Hanwha Systems UK Ltd, represented by Chung, joined Eutelsat Communications’ board.

• UTC Investment frames its core investing philosophy around transparency, integrity, and “long-term value creation,” with an emphasis on a virtuous cycle among portfolio companies, capital markets, and industries.
• The firm’s stated operating style is “Value-Up & Change Capital”: it seeks to identify potential value and then create additional value through post-investment activity.
• UTC focuses on bio/healthcare, lifestyle, and IT/semiconductor, and its portfolio page shows investments across domestic and global companies.
• UTC’s stage coverage includes early venture rounds such as Seed, Series A, and Series B, plus Growth Cap and M&A/control transactions.
• Chung’s personal background is weighted toward buyouts and complex M&A: Carlyle, MBK Partners, UTC PE, Daesang Group, and now Hanwha Aerospace corporate M&A.
• For founders, the strongest fit is likely a company in UTC’s focus sectors where a Korean growth investor can help with commercialization, governance, follow-on financing, strategic partnerships, or exit readiness.