This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 3:18 p.m. on Nov. 13, 2025.
SK Telecom carried out an organizational restructuring, and within the industry there are talks that the in-house artificial intelligence (AI) company in company (Company in Company·CIC) could be spun off. Just as SK Planet, which started as a CIC, was split off through a physical partitioning in the past, there is a possibility that the AI CIC could also be separated into a distinct corporation.
Because of this, SK Telecom employees are fearful of being assigned to the AI CIC. Analysts say it is natural that members are reluctant to move to a CIC because there have been virtually no successful cases of spin-offs from SK Telecom in the past.
On the 13th, according to the investment banking (IB) industry and business circles, SK Telecom carried out organizational restructuring and executive appointments centered on two CICs: mobile network operator (MNO) and AI.
The AI CIC is an in-house company that launched last September. Through this reorganization, SK Telecom decided to divide the AI CIC's business areas into business-to-consumer (B2C), business-to-business (B2B), digital platform, and data center, and to reorganize the technology domain around platform and AI models.
Until now, the industry has consistently raised the possibility that SK Telecom would partition the AI CIC. Although this reorganization did not include matters related to partitioning, the view inside and outside the company is that ultimately the direction will inevitably be partitioning.
An industry insider familiar with SK Telecom's internal affairs said, "What Chey Tae-won wants is for SK Group as a whole to transform into an AI company," and added, "For that reason, there are talks that AI-related units will ultimately have to be separated into independent corporations to improve efficiency."
However, there are good reasons why SK Telecom employees are reluctant to be assigned to the AI CIC. SK Telecom has carried out several spin-offs in the past, but there have been practically no successful cases to date.
SK Planet started as a CIC of SK Telecom and in 2011 was physically partitioned into a separate corporation specialized in the platform business. However, SK Telecom's plan to guarantee SK Planet's independence and grow it into a platform did not go as intended.
Loen Entertainment, which was a key subsidiary of SK Planet, was sold in 2013 to Affinity Equity Partners for about 260 billion won, which sparked controversy at the time with claims that it was a "fire-sale". Another subsidiary, SK Communications, suffered poor performance with the decline of Nate and Cyworld and eventually returned under SK Telecom before being sold to Samgu I&C and dropping the "SK" brand.
SK Techex, which was split off from SK Planet in 2016 through a spin-off, failed to produce notable results and was later merged back into SK Planet, and One store, which was spun off at the same time, attempted an initial public offering but withdrew after failing to attract investors.
The situation is even more serious for 11Street, which was spun off in 2018. After failing to go public and drawing criticism for voluntarily giving up call options on investors' equity (the National Pension Service, H&Q Partners, MG Community Credit Cooperatives Central Association), SK Planet recently decided to bring it back under its wing.
T map Mobility, which started as a department within SK Telecom and was physically partitioned, remains in continuous deficit, making its plan to list within the year virtually impossible. It is selling assets such as an airport bus company to improve its financial structure. Similarly, Sapeon, an AI Semiconductor company separated from SK Telecom, ended up merging with Rebellions.