KT nominates former LG CNS CEO to top position

Kim Young-shub, the former CEO of LG CNS [LG CNS]

Telecom carrier KT nominated Kim Young-shub, the former CEO of LG CNS, to head the company after an unprecedented leadership vacuum that has been in place since March 2023.

Kim was chosen for the position out of three candidates after a round of interviews conducted by a committee comprised of outside directors throughout Friday.

The three candidates were Kim, Park Yoon-young, a former president at KT, and Cha Sang-kyun, a professor at Seoul National University, with KT revealing the list on July 28.

“Kim has a clear proposal for KT’s future vision and strategies to it to grow into a global digital platform company in the fluctuating market environment with his expertise in ICT and experience in company management,” Yoon Jong-soo, KT’s board committee chairman, said in a statement. “The board also saw Kim as the most fit to build cooperative relationships with insiders as well as experts within and outside of the company, while leading change and innovation among KT employees.”

Kim headed LG CNS's high-tech and solution business divisions before taking the role of chief financial officer at LG Uplus in 2014. He retired as LG CNS’s CEO in 2022.

During his tenure at LG CNS, Kim worked to strengthen the company’s profitability by restructuring poorly performing businesses.

KT's attempts to appoint new CEO fell apart multiple times as the Yoon Suk Yeol administration pointed to KT's lack of transparency and independence in its nomination process.

Former KT CEO Ku Hyeon-mo stepped down from the top post in March and the seat remained vacant until now. Park Jong-wook, KT president and head of its business planning division, served as the acting CEO.

KT began accepting CEO applications from July 4 to 12, with twenty seven candidates outside of the company applying for the top job. The number of internal candidates was not disclosed. The board committee then reviewed the applications over a three-week period.

The committee proposed four evaluation criteria for the new CEO — experience and knowledge to run the company according to the corporate values, communication skills, leadership capability to draw out employees’ voluntary participation in line with the company vision, and industry expertise to flexibly deal with the ever-changing market environment.

Kim’s nomination will be put to vote at the extraordinary general meeting scheduled to take place at the end of August. To cinch the position, Kim needs to win the approval of 60 percent of outstanding voting rights from the company's shareholders.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]