Amidst the controversy sparked by Hanwha Aerospace drafting an internal guideline that restricted candidates' universities and ages during experienced-hire recruitment, it has been revealed that 30.5% of its current executives graduated from the so-called "SKY" universities.

According to an analysis of the executive status released by Hanwha Aerospace as of June 30, 2026, among the 107 registered and unregistered executives, Seoul National University had the highest number with 17, followed by Korea University with 11, KAIST with 6, and Sungkyunkwan University, Hanyang University, Kyungpook National University, and Pusan National University with 5 each.

Next were Yonsei University, Changwon National University, and Chungnam National University with 4 each; Korea Aerospace University with 3; and Inha University, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, and the Korea Military Academy with 2 each. A total of 32 executives graduated from SKY universities—Seoul National University, Yonsei University, and Korea University—accounting for 30.5% of the 105 executives whose alma maters could be verified.

However, since Hanwha Aerospace's public disclosures often list only one academic degree (bachelor's, master's, or doctoral) per executive, the representative degrees listed in the business report also include master's and doctoral programs.

Looking solely at undergraduate degrees, Seoul National University had 6, Korea University had 5, Sungkyunkwan University, Yonsei University, Kyungpook National University, Hanyang University, and Changwon National University had 4 each, Pusan National University had 3, and Korea Aerospace University had 2. Other universities included Gyeongnam University, Myongji University, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Chung-Ang University, Sogang University, Inha University, and Dong-a University. Among them, 15 were SKY graduates, making up 34.9% of the 43 executives with specified bachelor's degrees.

Additionally, a total of 43 executives had master's or MBA degrees listed as their representative degrees, while 15 had doctorates. Among master's and MBA degrees, Korea University and Seoul National University had the most with 6 each, followed by KAIST with 3, and Chungnam National University, Pusan National University, and Northwestern University with 2 each. Others included one executive each from Columbia University, Duke University, Carnegie Mellon University, Harvard University, Boston University, Indiana University, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Kyung Hee University, and Inha University.

Among the 15 doctoral degrees, Seoul National University accounted for 5, KAIST for 3, and Chungnam National University for 2, while overseas universities such as UC Berkeley, Georgia Tech, Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Florida, and Texas A&M were represented by 1 each. Notably, the proportion of master's and doctoral degree holders was relatively high among executives in the aerospace, defense, and R&D sectors.

Regarding the Hanwha Group owner family and top management, Vice Chairman Kim Dong-kwan graduated with a degree in political science from Harvard University, Business Division President Sohn Jae-il holds a bachelor's degree from Korea University, and Inside Director Kim Seung-mo holds a bachelor's degree from Sungkyunkwan University. Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn holds a master's degree in international politics from DePaul University, and Vice Chairman Yeo Seung-ju graduated from Sogang University.

Meanwhile, Hanwha Aerospace recently faced controversy after an internal document was leaked revealing that its internal experienced-hire recruitment guidelines limited applicants for Seoul and Pangyo positions to graduates from 11 domestic universities, including Seoul National University, Yonsei University, and Korea University, while restricting overseas universities to the global top 100.

Following reports on the matter, the Ministry of Employment and Labor launched an inspection into Hanwha Aerospace. The Ministry secured recruitment announcements, internal hiring criteria, and evaluation data to examine whether discriminatory criteria based on age or university origin were actually applied during the hiring process. It plans to issue fines and corrective orders if violations are confirmed.

Regarding the document discriminating by university origin, Hanwha Aerospace CEO Lee Boo-hwan issued an official apology on the 27th, stating that creating a guideline that could restrict application opportunities based on academic background or age unrelated to job performance is something that should never happen. He pledged to discipline the responsible parties and improve the recruitment process.

CEO Lee stated that the distribution of the guideline to the field without internal consensus and verification was a "clear fault," adding that he would refer the person responsible for drafting it to the disciplinary committee and strengthen fair recruitment training for all executives and employees.

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