KT (030200.KS), South Korea's major telecommunications carrier, officially appointed CEO candidate Park Yun-young as its new chief executive at a shareholders' meeting on March 31, signaling a fresh start for the company. An organizational restructuring plan centered on consolidating headquarters divisions and slimming down field operations is also expected to be announced shortly after the meeting.
KT held its 44th annual general meeting on the morning of the same day at the KT R&D Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul, and passed all proposed agenda items as originally presented, including the appointment of the new CEO. The resolution to appoint Park Yun-young as CEO passed with a 97.3% approval rate. His term runs for three years until the date of the annual general meeting in 2029.
In addition to the CEO appointment, a total of nine agenda items were put to a vote: △approval of the 44th fiscal year financial statements, △partial amendment of the articles of incorporation, △appointment of outside directors, △appointment of inside directors, △appointment of audit committee members, △approval of the director compensation cap, △approval of a treasury stock holding and disposal plan, and △approval of a management contract.
KT posted revenue of 28.2441 trillion won ($20.8 billion), operating profit of 2.5691 trillion won, and net profit of 1.8368 trillion won for last year. The year-end dividend was set at 600 won per common share, with the total annual dividend confirmed at 2,400 won per share. The director compensation cap was maintained at 5.8 billion won.
Park Hyun-jin, CEO of Millie's Library, a digital reading platform, was newly appointed as an inside director. Kim Young-han, a professor at Soongsil University, Kwon Myung-suk, former CEO of Intel Korea, and Seo Jin-seok, a non-executive advisor at OCI Holdings and Bukwang Pharmaceutical and former CEO of EY Hanyoung, were appointed as outside (independent) directors. Kwon and Seo will also serve concurrently as audit committee members.
KT also passed an amendment to its articles of incorporation focused on adjusting its business objectives. A new category — "business related to the management, licensing, and other disposition of intellectual property (IP)" — was added to the company's stated business purposes. The personal credit information management business and ancillary operations (KT MyData business), which ceased service in December last year, were removed. The move is interpreted as a signal that KT intends to grow IP-based revenue models through AI technology and content sales.
KT is also known to be pursuing an organizational restructuring that will consolidate seven headquarters divisions, abolish regional headquarters, and introduce an integrated regional system with function-based reorganization at the head office. The streamlining is expected to significantly reduce the executive ranks by more than one-third. KT has reportedly notified approximately one-third of its roughly 90 executives at the senior vice president level and above of their retirement.