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NAVER announces new CEO and CFO nominees and plans to establish new leadership through the “NAVER Transition Taskforce”

- The Board of Directors and management approves Choi Soo-yeon, as the CEO nominee, with confirmation pending upon the approval from next year’s shareholders meeting and resolution of the Board

- Management approves Kim Nam-sun as the CFO nominee. Kim is currently in charge of corporate development, investment, and M&A

- Two nominees will play integral roles in the “NAVER Transition Taskforce” to accelerate the global expansion and build a new corporate culture

 

Seongnam, South Korea (Nov. 17, 2021) - NAVER Corporation (KRX: 035420) held a Board of Directors meeting on Nov. 17 and announced Ms. Choi Soo-yeon, head of Global Business Support, as the new CEO nominee to begin the next phase of management reform. NAVER management has approved Mr. Kim Nam-sun, head of corporate development, investment, and M&A, as the CFO nominee to help support Ms. Choi’s drive to establish the next generation management leadership.

 

 

The two nominees will run the 'NAVER Transition Taskforce' to speed up the establishment of a new leadership team and reform of organizational structure, for full-fledged global business management and enhanced corporate culture.

NAVER’s Board of Directors and management team have been working to redefine the role and qualifications of a new CEO while recommending and verifying candidates with the aim of building a stronger base for the company’s global growth efforts across its diverse businesses within and outside NAVER.

 

Particularly, NAVER’s new leadership is expected to create more synergy with the company’s local and global partners, reorganize its strategic portfolio, and incubate new businesses that capitalize on NAVER’s globally competitive technologies. As such, it will be the responsibility of the new CEO nominee and the leaders to 1) establish a system in which key businesses can fulfill their social and legal responsibilities globally, 2) expand global initiatives through synergy between business segments, and 3) discover new businesses opportunities through the preemptive investment in technology and human resources.

 

The Board of Directors highly recognized Ms. Choi Soo-yeon for her problem-solving capability, as well as her deep understanding of global business strategy and markets that she has proven throughout her role of supporting NAVER’s various domestic and global businesses. The Board also assessed that her balanced internal and external perspective on the company will contribute to promoting long-term change for NAVER. Nominee Choi is pending final approval as the next CEO upon approval at the shareholder’s meeting in March 2022 and a resolution by the Board of Directors.

 

CFO nominee Mr. Kim Nam-sun has had a successful career in global finance and has spearheaded major deals, such as the acquisition of Wattpad and the exchange of stakes with E-Mart and Shinsegae since joining NAVER in 2020. The management team determined nominee Kim to be the financial leader to strengthen NAVER’s global management system and competitiveness in the global market.

 

The Board of Directors and NAVER management highly praised the two nominees for their diverse experiences as well as their resume that excelled in meeting challenges across multiple business fields.

 

Ms. Han Seong-sook and the current management team have successfully transformed NAVER from a web portal to a global tech company through bold investments in technology and human resources. Furthermore, NAVER has become an Internet company with diverse assets in its portfolio through the expansion of the company-in-company (CIC) system that helped increase the speed and independence of major business segments. With its win-win business model for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), NAVER has become the model platform company with merits that is well recognized by society. NAVER has also set a culture of leading talents of the fourth industrial revolution growing together with the company by creating a compensation system that utilizes stock options and grants.

 

Growth and innovation at NAVER are set to take the next leap forward as Ms. Han and the team will provide transition support through the end of March 2022 for the new leaders including nominees Ms. Choi and Mr. Kim. Furthermore, the current management will continue to share expertise to help NAVER on its set of global challenges in their new roles in and out of NAVER.

 

 

[Reference]

 

Profile of Choi Soo-yeon, NAVER CEO Nominee

Choi Soo-yeon, the CEO nominee, graduated from Seoul National University College of Engineering and entered the industry as a graduate hire at NAVER (formerly NHN) in 2005. During the four years of NAVER’s rapid growth as the No. 1 player in the domestic internet industry, Choi worked in the Communication and Marketing divisions, gaining deep familiarity with the company’s business while absorbing NAVER’s corporate philosophy and values. After graduating from Yonsei University’s Graduate School of Law, Choi worked as a lawyer in Yulchon, then went on to Harvard Law School and passed the New York Bar Exam. While continuing her career as a lawyer in the fields of M&A, capital markets, corporate governance and corporate law in general, she has continued to share NAVER’s global business vision and rejoined NAVER in 2019 to lead the global business support.

 

 

Born in 1981, Graduated from Seoul National University

2005.02-2009.02: NAVER (Formerly NHN) Communications and Marketing

2009.03~2012.02: Yonsei University Graduate School of Law

2012.03~2019.10: Lawyer, Yulchon LLC.

2017.07~2018.06: Harvard Law School, LL.M

2019.11~ Head of Global Business Support, NAVER Corp.

 

 

Profile of Kim Nam-sun, NAVER CFO Nominee

Kim Nam-sun, the CFO nominee, joined NAVER in August 2020. After graduating from Seoul National University College of Engineering and Harvard Law School, he had worked as a lawyer at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, a top-tier law firm in the United States for over two years. Afterwards, Kim transitioned into finance and worked for global investment companies including Lazard Freres & Co., Morgan Stanley, and Macquarie Group for over 10 years, leading major domestic and international M&A projects which allowed him to become well-regarded in the industry.

 

 

Born in 1978. Graduated from Seoul National University / Harvard Law School JD

2007.09~2010.03: Lawyer, Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP (New York)

2010.04~2012.05: Associate, Investment Banking Division, Lazard Frères & Co. LL (New York)

2012.06~2017.04: Executive Director, Investment Banking, Morgan Stanley (Seoul, Hong Kong)

2017.04~2020.07: Managing Director, Private Equity Investments, Macquarie Group (Seoul)

2020.08~: Head of Corporate Development, Investment and M&A, NAVER Corp.

 

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