KT Recruits Former Prosecutor Kim Hu-gon as Compliance Committee Chairperson

by Lee Sungmin

Published 29 Feb.2024 16:46(KST)

Updated 29 Feb.2024 17:08(KST)

Person in Charge Leading Ethical Management at KT Group

KT has appointed Kim Hu-gon, a former special investigation prosecutor and CEO of Robaex, as the chairman of the Compliance Committee to oversee compliance management.

According to industry sources on the 29th, Attorney Kim will officially take office next month as the head of KT's Compliance Committee. The Compliance Committee was established to replace the Ethics Management Office that operated under former KT CEO Koo Hyun-mo’s administration, playing a key role in leading ethical management across the KT Group.

Kim Hu-gon, CEO and attorney of Robax, has been appointed as the chairman of the KT Compliance Committee. <br/>Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Kim Hu-gon, CEO and attorney of Robax, has been appointed as the chairman of the KT Compliance Committee.
Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Attorney Kim graduated from Dongguk University with a degree in law and passed the judicial examination in 1993. He was appointed as a prosecutor in 1996. He subsequently served as head of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Information and Communications Division, chief of the Special 1st Division at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, spokesperson for the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, and in 2018 was promoted to chief of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Trial and Litigation Department (prosecutor general). He was also one of the four candidates for the first Prosecutor General under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration. Attorney Kim built ties with the telecommunications industry while serving as a legal advisor to the Korea Communications Commission, and in 2022, he presided over the hearing for telecom operators when the Ministry of Science and ICT reclaimed the 28 GHz 5G frequency bands from the three major mobile carriers.

Under Attorney Kim’s leadership, the Compliance Committee will rigorously monitor compliance management across the entire KT Group and work to minimize legal risks.

Following KT’s appointment last month of former prosecutors Attorney Chu Ui-jung and Attorney Heo Tae-won as the new head of the Audit Office and the head of the Compliance Promotion Office, respectively, the announcement of another former prosecutor has sparked controversy, with some critics labeling it a “parachute appointment.”

On the same day, KT’s second labor union, KT Saenozu, issued a statement criticizing, “CEO Kim Young-seop recently declared KT’s vision as an artificial intelligence (AI) telecommunications company, but judging from the personnel appointments, it seems more like a prosecutor company than an AI company.” The union added, “We will demand a reasonable explanation for the consecutive appointments that exacerbate the parachute appointment controversy.”