Park Yoon-young, former head of KT’s corporate division, who was selected as the next KT CEO (CEO an..

Park Yoon-young, former head of KT’s corporate division, who was selected as the next KT CEO (CEO and CEO) candidate, is considered a “traditional KT man” who has worked at KT for 30 years.

KT’s board of directors evaluated former president Park as “a person who has achieved results in the field of digital transformation (DX) and intercompany transactions (B2B) based on his experience in KT business and technology-based management capabilities,” and judged that “he is the right person to quickly restore internal and external trust and lead change and innovation.” The in-depth interview was reportedly followed by questions related to ways to secure trust at home and abroad and presenting management visions.

KT’s selection of former president Park as the final candidate, not an external candidate, is because KT’s situation is not easy and there are a number of tasks. Examples include handling hacking incidents, organizing maintenance, and creating artificial intelligence (AI) business results. Former president Park has been working at KT for the longest period of time among candidates, and has proven his capabilities by becoming a final candidate several times in previous CEO contests.

The most urgent task is to deal with the KT hacking incident, which is currently under investigation. KT suffered unauthorized micropayments and infringement accidents through illegal small base stations (Pemtosel) this year, and the personal information of 22,227 customers was leaked. In addition, it was discovered during an investigation by a joint public-private investigation team that the server was violated last year and handled it on its own without reporting it to the authorities. The public-private joint investigation team is conducting additional investigations, and the final result is likely to be over the year, which is considered the first issue to be encountered as a new CEO.

Since KT has promised to invest more than 1 trillion won in information security over the next five years after the hacking accident, it is urgent to re-establish its internal security system and process to prevent recurrence and restore customer trust.

How to deal with security risks is also directly related to KT’s mid- to long-term growth strategy. KT previously presented its goal of achieving accumulated AI sales of 4.6 trillion won by 2029 in cooperation with Microsoft, and put AI as the next-generation growth engine. However, as hacking accidents and internal risks continue, the burden on the speed and market reliability of AI strategies is increasing.

At this point, former president Park’s role is also expected to play an important role. While working at KT, Park has gained experience in discovering new businesses by serving as the head of the Future Business Development Group, the head of the Corporate Business Consulting Division, and the head of the Corporate Business Division. This is why attention is also being paid to whether former president Park will be able to create new opportunities by demonstrating his expertise in the B2B field.

Another variable is whether the direction of KT’s new business will be reorganized. Under the current CEO Kim Young-seop, KT has been actively promoting its AI business by cooperating with overseas big tech companies such as Microsoft. However, in the case of CEO Kim, the possibility of a change in the former CEO Park’s system cannot be ruled out as he has proposed a new slogan called “AICT” (AI+Information and Communication Technology) instead of “Digico” (Digital+Telecom) which was put forward under the former CEO system.

Candidate for KT CEO Park Yoon-young

△ Born in 1962 △ Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering at Seoul National University and Master of Science and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering at Seoul National University △ Head of Future Business Development Group △ Head of KT’s Corporate Business Consulting Division △ Head of KT’s Corporate Business Division

[JUNG HOJUN / Reporter Kim Daegi]