Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon attended a Japanese tech conference immediately after accompanying President Lee Jae-myung on his visits to India and Vietnam, where she presented the company's direction for designing artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure. As Naver (035420.KS) accelerates its push into overseas markets, Choi is also expanding the scope of her global activities.
Naver said Choi attended "SusHi Tech Tokyo 2026," held in Tokyo, Japan, on the 27th. Choi took the main session stage with Naver Labs CEO Suk Sang-ok and Naver Cloud Director Kim Ju-hee for a 45-minute discussion on the theme "Designing AI as Social Infrastructure." SusHi Tech Tokyo is Asia's largest technology conference, hosted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to build a sustainable urban model.
At the conference, Naver emphasized that AI is evolving into essential infrastructure supporting everyday life. For example, Naver views digital twins as infrastructure for future cities and is building digital twins in Saudi Arabia and Nagaishi, Japan. "Naver will enhance service competitiveness and contribute to social development through sovereign AI that deeply understands users in each country and respects their cultures and value systems," Choi said.
Choi's visit to Japan came immediately after she accompanied President Lee on his trip to India and Vietnam from the 19th to the 24th. During the trip, Choi signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Tata Consultancy Services, the IT affiliate of India's largest conglomerate Tata Group, agreeing to jointly explore local AI and cloud business opportunities. On the 23rd, she attended the Korea-Vietnam Business Forum. Before the India-Vietnam trip, she traveled to Spain, where on the 14th (local time) she discussed sovereign AI and digital twin development with Oscar Lopez, Spain's Minister for Digital Transformation and Public Function.
Choi's activities are an extension of Naver's search for new avenues abroad. Naver last year established "Naver Arabia," its Middle East headquarters, and acquired Spain's largest consumer-to-consumer (C2C) company Wallapop, expanding its reach into the Middle East and Europe. Starting with its first-quarter earnings this year, Naver will also change its revenue segments to Naver Platform, Financial Platform, and Global Challenge, aiming to report new business results more clearly.
