KT CEO Koo Hyun-mo: "It Will Take Time... We Will Partner with Disney+"

Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission Attends Meeting with Three Major Telecom Operators
On Win-Win Proposals, Says "Companies Must Take Active Role"
Remains Silent on Digital Transformation Questions

KT CEO Koo Hyun-mo attended a meeting between Chairman Han Sang-hyuk of the Korea Communications Commission and the CEOs of the three major mobile carriers at the Seoul Press Center on the afternoon of the 15th.

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] KT CEO Koo Hyun-mo met with reporters on the 15th and stated, "We will partner with Disney Plus (+). It will just take some time."

After a meeting at the Seoul Press Center between Broadcasting and Communications Commission Chairman Han Sang-hyuk and representatives of the three major mobile carriers, CEO Koo hinted at the possibility of a partnership with Disney+.

Within the industry, there is growing speculation that LG Uplus is likely to secure a priority partnership with Disney+ within this year. The impact of a partnership with the global online video service (OTT) Disney+ on the IPTV industry was previously confirmed through the Netflix case about five years ago.

CEO Koo explained, "It is not possible to simply embed it as software into the IPTV set-top box itself." Since the set-top box is hardware and requires replacement, it inevitably takes time.

Regarding regulations on platform operators, he drew a clear distinction by saying, "Kakao and KT have different platform characteristics."

When asked about the win-win cooperation plan, he responded, "KT is operating the Gwanghwamun One Team. I believe that all companies are facing difficulties and need to help each other, so we must actively step forward."

However, CEO Koo did not answer any questions regarding specific plans related to the digital transformation. Recently, as KT has accelerated its digital transformation, the redeployment of approximately 3,000 employees across five divisions became inevitable. Within this year, SMB sales (face-to-face sales for small and medium businesses) and C&R operations (customer consultation management) personnel will be redeployed, and next year, general personnel in national offices excluding essential staff in IP access, regional transmission, and power will be reassigned to new fields.

During this process, internal employee dissatisfaction, especially among the MZ generation, exploded. The wage and collective bargaining, including the 'provisional labor-management agreement on job redeployment' proposed by KT’s primary union, the KT Labor Union, was approved with a 59.7% approval rate in a union member vote. This is the lowest approval rate in history compared to 89% in 2019 and 93% in 2020. It is also the highest opposition rate (39.2%) ever recorded in KT’s wage and labor negotiations.

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