Applications for a new CEO of KT, a key telecommunications carrier, close at 6 p.m. on the 16th. The telecommunications industry is closely watching who will make the shortlist.
According to the telecommunications industry, even after applications close for the KT CEO post, the shortlist is not expected to be released immediately. Even if applications close via the website and other channels, additional steps such as recommendations from overseas and review by the director nomination committee will follow. Some in the industry said a decision on whether to release the shortlist may come as early as the 17th. In a prior recruitment notice, KT said, "To ensure a transparent review, the list of applicants may be disclosed externally."
On the 4th, when KT CEO Kim Young-shub formally announced he would not seek another term, the company formed a director nomination committee with eight outside directors and began the process to recruit a CEO. It is building the CEO candidate pool through the following: ▲ recommendations from external professional institutions ▲ open recruitment ▲ shareholder recommendations (shareholders who hold at least 0.5% of total shares for at least six months) ▲ internal candidates under relevant rules. KT plans to select a final candidate within the year and formally appoint a CEO at the board meeting in Mar. 2026.
In the telecommunications industry, a range of figures are being mentioned as potential new KT CEOs. Former Group Transformation Division head (president) Yoon Kyung-lim, former corporations division head (president) Park Yun-young, and endowed professor Kim Jae-hong at the Seoul Media Institute of Technology are being discussed as leading candidates. From within KT or with KT backgrounds, Customer Division head (executive vice president) Lee Hyun-seok and former Seoul Metro President Kim Tae-ho are being mentioned.
Others being mentioned include Park Tae-woong, head of the Public AX subcommittee at the Presidential Committee on AI, former Naver Cloud co-CEO Park Won-gi, former KT Telecop CEO Park Dae-soo, former KT Skylife CEO Kim Cheol-soo, former Presidential Committee on Policy Planning Economic Subcommittee 2 Commissioner Joo Hyung-chul, and former SK shieldus CEO Hong Won-pyo.
Koo Hyun-mo, the former KT CEO who led the company before Kim, did not enter this round. In a statement on the 14th, Koo said he would not run and added, "Those who do not know KT's history, culture, or the role and responsibility of a key telecommunications carrier should refrain from participating." He also said, "Those who apply because they think the KT CEO is a 'good job' likewise are not qualified."
Koo also said, "I sought to make KT a people's company that contributes to national development, changes customers' lives, and leads innovation in other industries, but I had to leave KT against my will," adding, "If I must again be 'reviewed' by a board created as a result of a distorted KT governance structure, I concluded that is not the right path."