[The Editors' Verdict] The Parallel Theory of the President and the KT CEO

Four CEOs Investigated Since Privatization
“It Has to Be Me or No One” Caution
Creating a Company Where Employees Excitedly Thrive

The president is referred to as the head of the Korean executive branch. The CEO of KT is the leader of the Korean telecommunications industry. In fact, the KT CEO and the president have many similarities. First, many of them were graduates of the Korea Military Academy (KMA) in the past. When KT was a public enterprise, its name was Korea Electric Telecommunications Corporation (Korea Telecom). Lee Woo-jae (KMA Class 13), the first CEO of Korea Telecom, was a retired brigadier general. The 4th CEO, Lee Jun (KMA Class 19), took over the company after retiring as the commander of the 1st Field Army (general). Former presidents Park Chung-hee, Chun Doo-hwan, and Roh Tae-woo were all KMA graduates. The culture of strict hierarchy and obedience remains strongly in both the government organization and KT, largely due to this influence.

Another commonality between the president and the KT CEO is that their endings have often not been very favorable. Most former presidents faced prosecution and imprisonment after leaving the Blue House. Since privatization in 2002, there have been five KT CEOs. Among them, four have been investigated by prosecutors or police on charges such as breach of trust, embezzlement, and violations of political funding laws. The positions of president and KT CEO are ones where, the moment you step down, there is a high probability of facing trouble.

They are also alike in being heads of nationwide organizations. The number of public officials exceeds one million. Public officials who report directly to the president are stationed in every town, township, and neighborhood office across the country. KT has about 20,500 employees, and including 48 affiliates, the total workforce is 58,000. The number of first-, second-, and third-tier subcontractors is so large that even KT employees are unaware of the exact figure. From mountain peaks to island villages, there is no place in the country without telephone and internet access. KT branches, offices, and subcontractors nationwide install, maintain, and manage the communication network. While there are companies larger than KT, few operate bases and personnel nationwide like KT. Naturally, the KT CEO has the authority to appoint many positions. It is said that the number of positions the KT CEO appoints or influences is in the thousands. One of the well-known reasons why KT CEOs have repeatedly been investigated by authorities since privatization is this appointment power. Simply put, changing one CEO creates about 1,000 job openings. When a regime takes power, they want to replace the KT head with their own person.

On the 4th, the KT board selected former LG CNS CEO Kim Young-seop as KT’s prospective leader. It is hoped that he will be the first CEO since privatization to complete his term without incident and earn the respect of KT and the entire industry as a senior figure. To achieve this, the most necessary mindset might be to avoid the belief that "it has to be me or no one." Also, it is important to consider reappointment from the very start of the tenure. Since privatization, all CEOs except the first, Lee Yong-kyung, have sought reappointment. And all except him have faced investigations. It is unlikely they did not consider reappointment from the beginning. Near the end of their terms, many people around them probably said, "There is no one but you, CEO. KT has no future without you." When hearing similar words, it would be good to reflect on whether it actually means, "If you are not CEO, I am in trouble."

KT is an organization that runs well even without a CEO. In the second quarter, it recorded an operating profit of 576.1 billion won. This figure, which is more than 25% higher than last year, reportedly surprised the securities industry. Since the reappointment controversy at the end of last year, the KT CEO has not been able to work properly. However, KT’s performance has continued to be surprisingly good since then. The new KT CEO should set a goal of "building a KT that thrives even without me." Successful people are almost without exception workaholics. They have a strong sense of responsibility that they must work. They unconsciously think that if they are not there, something terrible will happen. But with a fixed three-year term, it is difficult to work hard and transform the company. Moreover, this KT CEO’s term is just about two years and seven months due to delays in appointing the next CEO. The new CEO should play a role in creating a foundation that enables employees to work harder and better. It would be even better to say, "I am the foundation; I will support you firmly, so run around on top of me." The message that the new CEO trusts employees and delegates work should spread throughout the company. That means employees also trust and follow the CEO.

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