KT CEO Appointment, "Turned into a 'Closed League'... CEO Rotation Is Not Acceptable"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] Members of the People Power Party belonging to the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Communications Committee criticized the candidates selected for the next KT CEO interview as a "league of their own."

On the 2nd, People Power Party members of the Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Communications Committee, including Representative Park Seong-jung, held a press conference at the National Assembly and pointed out, "The KT board announced four candidates for the next CEO interview. However, only four former and current executives from KT out of the total 33 applicants passed, turning the next CEO appointment into a 'league of their own.'"

They said, "Current CEO Koo Hyun-mo attempted to secure his reappointment through a blind self-selection process to take control of KT, but various corruption allegations have surfaced, making him a subject of investigation. There are also widespread rumors that CEO Koo appointed Yoon Kyung-rim, head of KT Group Transformation Division (President), who is considered his avatar, as a candidate for CEO." They added, "This is a typical method of maintaining an 'interest cartel' by pushing and pulling each other within the interests of certain insiders."

The lawmakers claimed, "This is a mirror image of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions' attempt to take over MBC," and stated, "The MBC media union is currently trying to take control of MBC by installing a figurehead president, and the same thing is happening at KT."

They further emphasized, "If KT insists on 'recycling CEOs' to secure their own interests, the public will never stand by silently," and urged, "The prosecution and police must promptly begin investigations into former CEO Koo and his associates at KT."

After the press conference, Representative Park dismissed claims that the political sphere interfered in KT's CEO appointment, saying, "That is not true at all. I say this with the hope that KT will innovate and strengthen its expertise to grow into a company that benefits the public."

In response to the question, "Is this seen as an attempt to exclude former Minister Yoon Jin-sik, who was part of the presidential campaign?" Representative Kim Young-sik pointed out, "Whether internal or external, the public wanted talents who could innovate KT, but the four candidates have many issues. Since all evaluation criteria were set under CEO Koo Hyun-mo's regime, applying the criteria as is favors insiders. As a result, all external candidates were eliminated."

Meanwhile, on the 28th of last month, KT selected former KT Corporate Division Head (President) Park Yoon-young, former KT Mass General Manager (President) Lim Heon-moon, Yoon Kyung-rim, head of KT Group Transformation Division (President), and Shin Soo-jung, head of KT Enterprise Division (Vice President) as candidates for the next CEO interview.

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