KT Strengthens 'Detelecom' with Organizational Restructuring... Presidents Kang Gukhyun and Park Jonguk Promoted

Focus on 탈통신 and B2B Strengthening
New Enterprise Division Established
Expanded Roles and Responsibilities of Regional Headquarters
Promotion of Presidents Kang Gukhyun and Park Jonguk

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] On the 11th, KT carried out a large-scale organizational restructuring by reorganizing its corporate division into the KT Enterprise division and newly establishing KT Labs, which is dedicated to non-telecom new businesses, and the AICC Business Division. This reorganization is interpreted as a move to strengthen 탈 (?) telecommunications and B2B businesses. Kang Guk-hyun, Head of the Customer Division, and Park Jong-wook, Head of the Management Planning Division, were promoted to 'President,' establishing a co-management system.

Establishment of Organization Emphasizing 탈 (?) Telecommunications

On the 11th, KT implemented this organizational restructuring. First, IT expert Shin Soo-jung was appointed as the head of the Enterprise Division. The Enterprise Division is a reorganization of the existing corporate division aligned with the introduction of the B2B brand 'Enterprise.'

Since Vice President Shin Soo-jung has served as the head of the IT division and KT Group's Chief Information Officer (CIO), she is expected to play a leading role in proposing creative digital transformation (DX) solutions to KT's B2B customers.

The AI/DX Convergence Business Division was also significantly strengthened. Song Jae-ho, former Executive Director of the Media Platform Business Headquarters, was appointed as the head of the AI/DX Convergence Business Division and the newly established Chief Digital Transformation Officer (CDXO) earlier this year. Based on his extensive experience in media business, future growth businesses, and big data business, Executive Director Song will lead the discovery of unprecedented digital innovation business models.

Along with this, KT Labs was newly introduced under the AI/DX Convergence Business Division. KT Labs will act as a 'pioneer' pushing new businesses in various fields beyond the category of 'telecommunications.' Additionally, to activate the AI Contact Center (AICC) business, which is expected to grow rapidly in the artificial intelligence (AI) field, the AICC Business Division was newly established under the AI/Big Data Business Headquarters.

The Future Value TF, which has led KT Group's innovation so far, was elevated to the 'Future Value Promotion Office.' The Future Value Promotion Office, directly under the CEO, is responsible for strategy formulation and investment at the group level to accelerate future business promotion.

To systematically promote the ABC business, which forms the foundation for KT's transformation into a digital platform company, Kim Chae-hee, Executive Director, was appointed as the head of the Strategy Planning Office overseeing KT Group's strategy. Executive Director Kim Chae-hee, former head of the AI/Big Data Business Headquarters, is recognized for expanding KT's AI business domain. As one of the country's leading AI experts, Executive Director Kim will serve as the control tower for KT's group-level ABC business promotion.

Strengthening the Metropolitan Headquarters System Emphasizing On-site Management

KT strengthened the metropolitan headquarters system to better align with customer and market expectations. First, branch organizations were reorganized based on commercial districts, and organizations will be operated flexibly according to the characteristics of each region. Above all, the autonomy of metropolitan headquarters will be expanded, and regional responsibility management will be strengthened.

To this end, the number of executives in metropolitan headquarters increased from 16 to 21. Although the total number of KT executives decreased by more than 10% through this personnel change, regional executives responsible for customer service increased by more than 30%. Additionally, most metropolitan headquarters heads were appointed at the executive director level (5 out of 6), raising the organization's status, and additional executives were assigned to the metropolitan area to strengthen customer-centered service management.

KT strengthened its infrastructure organization to innovate infrastructure based on technological leadership. The 'IT Strategy Headquarters' was newly established within the IT division to enhance platform competitiveness at the group level. Also, to closely support business departments' IT needs, the existing software development team was elevated to the 'Software Development Headquarters.'

Consolidation of ‘Co-management’... Innovation Personnel Centered on 40s and Women

In this executive personnel change, KT continued the 'co-management' centered on the president group while promoting young talents in their 40s and female talents. Through this personnel change, the total number of KT executives decreased by more than 10% compared to the previous year, totaling 87.

This time, KT Group promoted 2 presidents, 3 vice presidents, and 9 executive directors, and 23 directors became new executives. Notably, among the 20 new KT executives (directors), 50% (10 people) are under 50 years old, and 28.7% of all KT executives are in their 40s, which is expected to increase the organization's vitality.

In this personnel change, KT promoted two vice presidents, Kang Guk-hyun, Head of the Customer Division, and Park Jong-wook, Head of the Management Planning Division, to presidents. Newly appointed President Kang Guk-hyun received high evaluations for contributing to customer value creation by leading synergies following the integration of sales and marketing organizations. Newly appointed President Park Jong-wook was recognized for leading group-level strategy formulation and investment in KT's transformation into an ABC-based digital platform company.

Presidents Kang Guk-hyun and Park Jong-wook will form a president group (total of three) together with CEO Koo Hyun-mo. President Kang Guk-hyun will be responsible for strengthening customer-centric management, and President Park Jong-wook will play a pivotal role in KT's transformation into an ABC-based digital platform company at the group level.

Generational Change to a Younger Organization... Achieving 10% Female Executive Ratio

Song Jae-ho, Head of the Media Platform Business Headquarters; Kim Hyung-wook, Head of the Future Value TF; and Jung Ki-ho, CEO of Nasmedia, were promoted from executive director to vice president. Newly appointed Vice President Song Jae-ho played a central role in establishing KT as a leading domestic media platform operator centered on IPTV (Olleh TV).

Newly appointed Vice President Kim Hyung-wook highlighted KT's customer-driven self-innovation efforts centered on the 'Heartfelt' campaign and led AI talent development. Newly appointed Vice President Jung Ki-ho established Nasmedia as the absolute leader in the domestic digital advertising industry with a creative and challenging attitude. The youngest executive in this personnel change, Director Choi Jun-gi (born in 1974), was promoted to executive just two years after becoming a deputy director. Director Choi Jun-gi will lead KT's AI and big data business as the head of the AI/Big Data Business Headquarters.

One notable feature of this personnel change is the emphasis on women. While only one female executive was promoted last year, three women were newly appointed as executives (directors) this time. As a result, the proportion of female executives at KT increased from 8.1% to 10.3% (9 people), reaching double digits. Additionally, female executives were appointed to key positions such as Kim Chae-hee as head of the Strategy Planning Office, Ok Kyung-hwa as head of the IT Strategy Headquarters, and Lee Mi-hee as head of the Cloud/DX Business Headquarters.

Those who demonstrated passion and achieved results were rewarded through personnel changes regardless of age. This time, 50 people were promoted to deputy director and senior meister, including three born in the early 1960s, nearing retirement age, who were promoted to deputy director.

KT stated, "Through this innovative organization and personnel change, we aim to accelerate our transformation into an ABC-based digital platform company," and added, "Furthermore, through fundamental changes that meet the expectations of customers and the market, we will be reborn as a young and new KT."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.