Kim Young-seop, KT CEO, Initiates Personnel Reshuffle... Three Executives Suspected of 'Interest Cartel' Removed from Positions

President Park Jong-wook, Vice President Shin Hyun-ok, and President Kang Guk-hyun Removed from Their Positions

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Kim Young-seop, the new CEO of KT, has fired the starting shot for personnel reform. He has relieved executives at the president level who were suspected of an 'interest cartel' from their duties and will operate in an acting capacity until the end of the year.

KT will announce key division head appointments on the 1st.

In this personnel reshuffle, Park Jong-wook, Head of the Management Planning Division (President), Shin Hyun-ok, Head of the Management Support Division (Vice President), and Kang Guk-hyun, Head of the Customer Division (President), will be relieved of their positions.

Replacing them, Kim Young-jin, Head of the Management Planning Division (Executive Director and current CFO), Lee Sun-joo, Head of the Management Support Division (Executive Director and current Head of the Management Support Division D-TF), and Lee Hyun-seok, Head of the Customer Division (Executive Director and Head of the Chungnam-Chungbuk Regional Headquarters) will act in their roles. They will concurrently hold their current positions.

This 'pinpoint personnel change' is analyzed to be closely related to suspicions of preferential treatment by former management and violations of the Political Funds Act.

The three executives relieved of their duties have been identified by the ruling party and others as part of the 'interest cartel.' They are suspected of splitting donations to lawmakers or funneling contracts to specific subcontractors.

However, a large-scale organizational restructuring and personnel changes are not expected immediately. Earlier, CEO Kim said regarding organizational restructuring, "Because there was a management vacuum, personnel changes need to be made quickly, but since most KT employees have an excellent work ethic, we need to move forward together."

He also stated, "I believe we need to create a culture where the organization operates with a natural and reasonable treatment and is recognized accordingly."

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