KT CEO Candidate Lineup Emerges: A Step Toward 'Management Normalization'... Performance Also Shows Rebound Trend

CEO Candidate Applications Close on 12th... List Expected Today
Includes Former Lawmakers Kwon Eun-hee, Kim Sung-tae, Ex-Deputy Minister Yoon Jong-rok
CEO Vacancy Enters 5th Month... Performance Likely to Exceed Market Expectations

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About 30 internal and external candidates from KT, including former Saenuri Party lawmaker Kwon Eun-hee and Bae Soon-min, head of KT Convergence Technology Institute, reportedly applied for the new KT CEO position. As the CEO selection process proceeds smoothly, the company's performance is also showing signs of recovery, returning to pre-management vacancy levels.

On the 13th, a KT official stated, "The number of candidates who applied this time is similar to the 34 candidates who applied in the CEO recruitment held last February," adding, "Many of those who applied then have applied again this time."

Earlier, KT announced it would form a pool of candidates through various methods, including open recruitment, recommendations from external professional organizations, and shareholder nominations. Shareholder nominations are limited to shareholders holding at least 0.5% of KT shares for more than six months. Internal candidates are selected from KT Group employees with over two years of service and executives at the vice president level or higher who possess management expertise and understanding of KT's business. If executives at the senior managing director level or above within KT Group apply through open recruitment, they will also be included in the internal candidate pool.

Therefore, this recruitment reportedly includes political figures such as former Saenuri Party lawmaker Kwon Eun-hee, former Liberty Korea Party lawmaker Kim Sung-tae, and former Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning Yoon Jong-rok, as well as numerous academics like Cha Sang-kyun, dean of Seoul National University Graduate School of Data Science, and Moon Hyung-nam, professor at Sookmyung Women's University.

Former KT executives such as Kim Ki-yeol, former vice president of KTF, Choi Doo-hwan, former CEO of POSCO ICT, and Bae Soon-min, head (executive director) of KT Convergence Technology Institute, are also included in the candidate pool. Among them, Bae stands out as a woman in her 40s. She is reportedly included as a CEO candidate through shareholder nomination. A graduate of KAIST's Department of Computer Science and holder of a master's degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she currently oversees AI technology development at KT. However, since the internal criteria for CEO applicants require a senior managing director or higher, it remains to be seen whether she, holding the title of executive director, will remain a final candidate.

KT's board of directors held a meeting this morning to decide on the candidate selection method and whether to disclose the list of applicants, with an official announcement expected in the afternoon. A shortlist of 4 to 5 candidates will be released around the end of this month, with the final candidate selected by early August at the latest.

Industry insiders analyze that political and external figures have become more advantageous in this CEO selection process than before. Last month, KT expanded the qualification requirements at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting, changing "professional knowledge and experience in the ICT field" to "industry expertise" to broaden the pool of CEO candidates. This move has been interpreted by the industry as a strategy to appoint political figures. If a political figure is ultimately selected, they will have to bear the label of a "parachute appointment."

Meanwhile, securities firms forecast that KT's second-quarter performance will exceed market consensus. Meritz Securities expects KT's consolidated sales and operating profit for the second quarter to be KRW 6.5653 trillion and KRW 527.5 billion, respectively, representing increases of 4% and 14.9% year-on-year. The company has maintained strong performance despite a CEO vacancy lasting five months. Notably, the operating profit is the second-highest quarterly figure recorded in the past five years, with the highest being KRW 626.6 billion in the first quarter of last year.

Wireless service revenue is also expected to continue stable growth of +1.8% year-on-year. Due to marketing cost efficiency and strong performance in high-margin telecommunications business targeting customers (Telco B2B), the separate operating profit for the second quarter is expected to surpass KRW 400 billion.

Jeong Ji-su, a researcher at Meritz Securities, analyzed, "The recovery in tourism demand is driving growth in roaming revenue and BC Card's overseas purchases, as well as increases in average room rates and occupancy at KT Estate hotels, leading to improved performance not only at headquarters but also at consolidated subsidiaries."

Daishin Securities also expects KT's operating profit to reach KRW 550 billion, a 19% increase compared to the same period last year. Kim Hoe-jae, a researcher at Daishin Securities, analyzed, "Contrary to concerns, KT achieved solid results in the first quarter despite the CEO vacancy and is expected to continue strong performance in the second quarter."

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