Kim Nam-seon, nominated as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) | Provided by Naver
Naver selected Choi Soo-yeon, a 40-year-old Harvard graduate (born in 1981) and head of the global business support department, as the next CEO to succeed CEO Han Seong-sook (born in 1967). Choi will be appointed as the next CEO after approval at the general shareholders’ meeting and resolution of the board of directors in March next year, and will lead Naver, which has sales exceeding 5 trillion won.
Naver announced that it held a regular board meeting on the afternoon of the 17th and approved Choi Soo-yeon, head of the Global Business Support Department, as the CEO nominee to lead Naver in the future. Kim Nam-seon, the responsible leader in charge of business development, investment, and M&A, was appointed as the CFO who will add strength to Choi’s efforts to establish the next management leadership. The two nominees will launch the ‘NAVER Transition TF’ to begin building new leadership and reorganizing the organization to begin global management and improve organizational culture.
The Board of Directors said, “We highly evaluated Choi’s ability to solve problems while supporting various domestic and overseas businesses and his extensive understanding of the company’s global strategy and relevant markets. In addition, we judged him to be a candidate who maintains a balanced view of the company both internally and externally and can promote regular change.”
Born in 1981, Choi graduated from the Department of Civil Engineering at Seoul National University and entered the industry as a new employee at Naver (NHN at the time) in 2005. He worked in the communications and marketing organization for four years when Naver continued to grow rapidly, rising to the top of the domestic Internet industry for the first time, and vividly experienced the current issues of platform companies and Naver’s corporate philosophy and values in the field.
Afterwards, he earned a master’s degree from Yonsei University Law School, worked as a lawyer at Yulchon, and obtained a New York State bar license after attending Harvard Law School. He rejoined Naver in 2019 while continuing his career as a lawyer in the areas of M&A, capital markets, corporate governance, and general corporate law. In March last year, he was appointed as an unregistered executive at Naver.
Nam-seon Kim, the responsible leader who was designated as the next CFO, was born in 1978 and joined Naver in August of last year. He graduated from Seoul National University’s College of Engineering and Harvard Law School and worked as an attorney at the American law firm Kravet, Swain & Moore for two years. Afterwards, he changed his career to become a financial expert and worked at global investment companies Lazard, Morgan Stanley, and Macquarie for 10 years, making a name for himself in the industry as an M&A expert. Based on his history as an expert in the global finance field, he has led big deals such as the acquisition of Wattpad and the exchange of shares in E-Mart and Shinsegae since joining Naver last year.
Naver executives said, “We judged Kim as the right person to strengthen our global management system and further strengthen Naver’s corporate competitiveness in the global market.” The board of directors and management said, “We highly evaluated the two nominees for their experience in various fields and their challenging history of crossing over into new areas.”
CEO Han Seong-sook plans to help take over the business until her term ends in March next year and then take on the necessary roles to help Naver continue its global challenge. CEO Han was appointed as CEO of Naver in March 2017, making her the company’s first female CEO. She was recognized for her management performance in March of last year and was successfully reappointed. However, she was forced to resign early last May after an incident occurred in which a developer took the extreme step after suffering from harassment in her workplace.
Source: Pangyo Techno Valley Official Newsroom
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