KT to name final CEO candidate in August amid management vacuum

[Courtesy of KT]

South Korea’s KT Corp., which has been experiencing a management vacuum for several months, has received applications or recommendations from 27 individuals during its public recruitment process for the next chief executive officer (CEO).

KT plans to finalize the final candidate by the first week of August and appoint a new CEO at the end of that month during a shareholders’ meeting.

According to KT on Thursday, a total of 20 people applied for the position of the next CEO through public recruitment between July 4 and 12. Shareholders with more than 0.5 percent of KT stake recommended one candidate and external professional organizations six.

In total, 27 individuals applied or were recommended during the process.

In addition, 11 internal candidates from KT are expected to become candidates for the next CEO. Park Jong-wook, head of the business planning division and the interim CEO of KT, however, will not participate as a candidate to ensure fairness in the evaluation process.

According to industry sources, Kim Sung-tae, former member of the Liberty Korea Party, Kwon Eun-hee, a former lawmaker of the ruling Saenuri Party, Kim Ki-yeol, former vice president of KTF, Choi Doo-hwan, former president of POSCO ICT, Yoon Jong-lok, former vice minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, Cha Sang-kyun, founding dean of Seoul National University Graduate School of Data Science, Moon Hyung-nam, professor of Sookmyung Women’s University, and Bae Soon-min, senior vice president at the KT Convergence Technology Institute, have applied or been recommended.

Koh Jean, chief of the Presidential Committee of Digital Platform Government, who was considered a strong candidate, did not participate.

The qualifications for applying for the position of the next CEO of KT include expertise in corporate management, leadership, communication skills, and industry specialization.

Earlier, KT faced backlash when former CEO Ku Hyeon-mo attempted for reappointment from November last year but eventually gave up in February when the ruling party and presidential office raised suspicions over unfair practices.

Yoon Kyung-lim, former KT president and a close acquaintance of Ku, was named as the succeeding CEO but he later resigned.

KT has been in a management vacuum since the end of March, leading to a delay in major investment and personnel decisions.

The KT Director Candidate Recommendation Committee plans to shortlist four to five candidates among the 30 individuals by mid-July at the earliest and finalize the final candidate in the first week of August. The final candidate will be appointed through a vote at the KT shareholders’ meeting at the end of August.

For the appointment, the final candidate should win 60 percent or more votes of the attending shareholders and the approval rate should be more than 25 percent of the entire shares.

The largest shareholder of KT is the National Pension Service at the end of March with 8.27 percent, followed by Hyundai Motor Group 7.79 percent and Shinhan Bank 5.57 percent. Foreign shareholders accounted for about 40 percent and individual shareholders 35 percent.

KT, in the meantime, did not disclose the individuals that applied for the position of the next CEO through public recruitment. Unlike the previous recruitment in February, where the list of applicants was disclosed, this time, the company chose not to open the list to avoid unnecessary controversy.

Industry insiders note that KT should appoint a well-rounded person given that it is engaged in a diverse range of businesses - not only mobile but card, paid broadcasting, content, real estate, and new industries such as cloud.