President Lee Jae-myung on the 7th named Minister Han Seong-sook of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups as the nominee for prime minister. Han, who led Naver for five years starting in 2017, is regarded as an "IT expert."
Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik said that day, "Based on experience as the head of an IT corporations and as Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, Han is expected to flawlessly complete the era-defining task of the artificial intelligence (AI) grand transition and lead growth for all of the Republic of Korea, not just some of the people."
Born in 1967, Han graduated from Uijeongbu Girls' High School and Sookmyung Women's University with a degree in English language and literature. Han began a career in society as a reporter for Monthly PC Line and, in 1997, co-founded the internet corporations Empas as an early member, serving as head of the search business division.
In 2007, Han moved to NHN, the predecessor of Naver, and served as head of the search quality center, head of the service division, and executive vice president overseeing the service division. In March 2017, Han became Naver CEO and led the company for five years until March 2022. After stepping down as Naver CEO, Han served as Naver's head of development in Europe, overseeing the entire European market.
Han is credited with playing a leading role in Naver's growth into Korea's No. 1 internet company. Han led initiatives including the video platform V LIVE, the simple payment service Naver Pay, Smart Store, and partial monetization of webtoons.
While serving as an advisor to Naver in May last year, Han was nominated as Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups in the Lee Jae-myung administration and took office in July of the same year. If Han takes office as prime minister after a National Assembly confirmation hearing, Han would become the first female prime minister in 20 years since Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook in 2006.
▲ Born in Gyeonggi (age 59) ▲ Sookmyung Women's University, English language and literature ▲ Reporter, Monthly PC Line ▲ Head of the search business division, Empas ▲ Executive vice president overseeing services, Naver ▲ CEO, Naver ▲ Minister, Ministry of SMEs and Startups