The selection of the next CEO to lead "telecom giant" KT is one day away. Of the 33 contenders for the next CEO, three—Park Yoon-young, former head of KT's corporations division (president); Joo Hyung-chul, former CEO of SK Communications; and Hong Won-pyo, former vice chairman of SK shieldus—will undergo final interviews on the 16th, after which one final candidate will be chosen as CEO.
According to the telecom industry on the 15th, KT's board nomination committee has notified the three CEO candidates of the interview time, location, and preparations. Based on their job execution plans, the candidates will deliver a 20–30 minute presentation outlining KT's growth vision. The job execution plan includes thoughts on the company's management vision, direction, a foundation for sustainable growth, enhancement of corporate value, enterprise-wide crisis management, securing internal and external trust, and building a cooperative management environment. Questions from board members will follow the presentation, and each candidate is expected to take about 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Since its privatization in 2002, KT has faced criticism that it has not been free from parachute appointments and political interference. With former presidential office digital communications secretary Kim Nam-kuk drawing controversy over the "local older sister," attention is on whether parachute appointment allegations will reemerge in the selection of KT's new chief.
This year, KT experienced an incident in which unauthorized small-amount payments occurred for a total of 368 customers, and the personal information of 22,227 people was leaked. KT's internal investigation found that the first unauthorized small-amount payment damage occurred on Aug. 5. The company reported the cyber intrusion to the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) on Sept. 8.
In fact, until before the hacking incident, KT's share price was in the upper 50,000 won range, and it succeeded in improving profitability through large-scale restructuring last year. In the second quarter, operating profit was 1.0148 trillion won, achieving a "record quarterly performance." But the fourth quarter, with the hacking variable still in play, will not be easy. Choi Min-ha, a Samsung Securities researcher, said, "In the short term, KT still faces variables such as the appointment of the next CEO and the Personal Information Protection Commission's decision on a penalty surcharge."
The AI business has also slowed due to the fallout from the hacking. KT declared it would go beyond being a telecom carrier to strengthen its AI and IT capabilities and transform into an AICT (a portmanteau of AI and ICT) corporation, but it was eliminated from the government-led "sovereign AI" project. In addition, it became embroiled in controversy over an unfair contract related to a project to invest 2.3 trillion won over the next five years with Microsoft (MS).
During the government's investigation of the hacking incident, signs of intentional concealment and downplaying were found, making it urgent to conduct a thorough root-cause analysis, prepare measures to prevent recurrence, and devise ways to restore customer trust.
Wi Jung-hyeon, a professor in the business administration department at Chung-Ang University, said, "Until now, KT has repeated a vicious cycle in which appointments that suit the administration's tastes, rather than figures for the company's development, have risen to the top." Kim Jun-ik, a business administration professor at Konkuk University, said, "The leader KT needs now is not an external innovator but an internal coordinator who can drive new growth engines while understanding the organization's informal mechanisms."