KT appoints new CEO, doubles down on AI

• South Korea’s KT Corp. has appointed a new CEO at its AGM
• The new chief, who was head of the B2B services division, is to focus the company even more on AI-native developments

South Korea’s second-largest telco KT Corp. has appointed a new CEO to implement the company’s increasingly AI-focused strategy. 

The operator started the search for a new chief in November 2025 when, following a disastrous cyberbreach, the former CEO Kim Young-seop decided to take responsibility for the company's shortcomings and not seek another term as head honcho. 

Now Park Yoon-young, who has been at KT for about 30 years, most recently as head of the operator’s enterprise services division, is in the hot seat. The appointment was approved and confirmed at the telco’s annual general meeting (AGM) of shareholders held in Seoul on Tuesday. 

KT noted that “during his tenure as head of the corporate business division, [Park] spearheaded the growth of the B2B business and contributed to expanding KT’s core growth axis into the B2B sector. It is expected that [his] AX capabilities, growth strategies and management commitment to enhancing corporate value will contribute to driving KT’s future growth,” with AX referring to KT’s increasing focus on providing customers with AI transformation (AX) services, something that KT has been developing since it outlined its intentions in 2024 to be “reborn as an AICT company,” and AICT being a combination of AI and ICT (information and communication technology). 

KT also noted that “with the appointment of a new CEO, KT plans to reorganise its management system and strengthen the foundation for responsible management.”

That reorganisation involves a yet greater focus on AI and the introduction of younger senior executives. 

According to The Korea Times, executives told the AGM that KT is integrating its R&D unit with its new AX division to focus on AI development, while a new IT division will specialise in platform operations and network architecture strategy.

The new CEO sent a message to KT staff, noted The Korea Times, emphasising that AI will be the core driver of KT’s next phase, and that the company would evolve this year to reflect that focus.

“AI transformation is rapidly changing the order of industries and the very way companies exist,” he said. “We will develop KT into a national key telecommunications operator responsible for the present and future of Korea’s network, and into an AI platform company leading the AI era,” added the CEO in a message that sounds remarkably like the strategic positioning of KT’s main domestic rival, SK Telecom. 

He also highlighted the ongoing pressures on KT’s traditional business. “The environment surrounding our core telecommunications business is becoming increasingly difficult, and our responsibility for security, networks and quality has never been heavier,” stated Park, who also pledged that KT would be at the forefront of next-generation technology developments related to 6G, satellite communications, AI-radio access network and quantum security: KT recently collaborated with Samsung to “validate AI-based radio access network (AI-RAN) optimisation technology” on KT’s commercial network. 

- Ray Le Maistre, Editorial Director, TelecomTV