"2026 will be the first year of new growth in which the overall corporate value of the NHN group makes a leap to the next level, centered on core businesses such as games, technology, and payments."
Jung Woo-jin, CEO of NHN, released a New Year's message on the 2nd, saying, "Over the past few years, we have focused on strengthening our fundamentals, stabilizing the organization, and making the group's business structure more solid," as he laid out this year's ambitions.
In the games business, the company will cement its No. 1 position in the web board game industry and aggressively target the global games market by releasing a total of six new titles this year, including "Oshi no Ko Puzzle Star," based on a popular intellectual property (IP).
In the technology business, NHN Cloud will serve as an "AI factory" provider encompassing the entire artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem in Korea, take a leading role in the national AI infrastructure expansion project, and drive meaningful growth in both revenue and profitability.
In the payments business, Payco and KCP will maintain a solid collaboration framework and move forward with new businesses, including stablecoins. In content, buoyed by the success of "Maybe Happy Ending," the company plans to continue aggressive investment in production and infrastructure.
Jung also signaled changes in organizational culture amid the great AI shift. "The foundation for completing the group's growth roadmap is a change in how we work and the intelligent transformation of our work culture," he said. "2026 will be the year when AI-driven work innovation takes root across all group companies."
NHN introduced "Playground," an in-house office AI platform, at the end of last year. Jung said, "Playground is the starting point for all of us to evolve into an organization that handles AI well," adding, "Let's experiment and learn together how we can maximize the efficiency of AI use in each of our roles."
Jung emphasized, "When all members of the organization join forces and prepare for the AI era with open minds, NHN will become a powerful organization encompassing technology, people, and the market," adding, "Let's take a proactive stance and build NHN's next success story together."