KT CEO carries out first organizational revamp

South Korean telecommunications giant KT Corp. on Thursday conducted the first organizational restructuring and executive shakeup since the company’s new chief, Kim Young-shub, took office in August.

The telecom carrier has also set a new vision of a “digital innovation partner that creates a better future for customers” with the aim of becoming a global leader specializing in information and communication technology services.

“We expect this year’s reshuffle will be the starting point for KT to leap forward as a digital innovation partner. We’ll put our utmost effort together with executives and employees to be recognized by customers,” CEO Kim said in a statement.

With the aim to grow into a good company recognized by customers, Kim stressed the telecom giant’s four core values: customer, capability, substance and harmony.

For Thursday’s reshuffle, KT focused on strengthening compliance management, restoring both internal and external trust, and laying the foundation for its long-term growth after the company experienced several months of an unprecedented leadership vacuum.

It recruited experts on legal affairs, ethical auditing and management support from outside of the firm to resolve its controversial judicial risks and improve its corporate image while strengthening its management operations for group affiliates.

The telecom carrier decided to reorganize functionally, including dismantling the firm’s transformation division with overlapping roles. The top three executive positions -- chief strategy officer, chief financial officer and chief human resources officer -- will be directly organized under the CEO.

It reduced the number of vice presidents by 20 percent. Executives higher than the vice president level were reduced from 410 to 344 through this year’s year-end reshuffle.

KT established a new technology innovation division that integrates information technology with research and development to accelerate digital innovation based on its expertise, including artificial intelligence. With the change, it looks to focus more on the business-to-business market.

Under the new technology innovation division, the telecom giant will establish the group, dubbed "KT consulting group," which will gather outstanding AI and IT experts. It also looks to strengthen the firm's AI R&D division, as well as establish an AI tech lab to enhance its competitiveness in the AI technology sector.

Oh Seung-pil newly joined as the CTO to lead the new technology innovation division. He is an IT expert who previously worked at Yahoo, Microsoft, Hyundai Card and Hyundai Commercial.

Jung Woo-jin, executive vice president, will lead the KT consulting group. He is a digital cloud technology consulting expert who has worked at Samsung SDS, Microsoft and Amazon Web Services.