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We would like to share with you the first message from Choi Soo-yeon, who was appointed as the CEO of NAVER in March 2022. In her first message, she guides us through the direction of TEAM NAVER going forward.

Hello, this is Choi Soo-yeon. It’s great to be with you all today.

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Ever since I became the new CEO of NAVER, people have been paying much attention to the fact that I was born in 1981, a Millennial. Millennials and Gen Z have been using, living with, and playing with the Internet and mobile services, and I am one of them.

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I believe my appointment as the CEO of NAVER symbolizes a momentous shift from the digital pioneers to the digital natives. I also believe my personal experience and perspective as a digital service user will be helpful in developing our services and businesses. In addition, the generational shift itself can be an inspiring message to the industry.

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Q. What was the biggest change you recognized when you returned to NAVER?

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From the time I joined as a new employee in 2005 until the time I left, NAVER was a very dynamic place, with tremendous momentum and ambition of becoming a global company. When I came back ten years later in 2019, things were truly different. NAVER manifested exponential growth by expanding from domestic to global and diversifying its business segments into commerce, content, fintech, B2B, and more. It was more than something anyone could have dreamed of 10 years ago. From a company with a single engine – search – we have now become a company equipped with a number of engines.

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Q. What is NAVER’s competitive advantage?

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Well, there are a number of them, but I would say the best part would be having colleagues who rise to the challenge together. NAVER has a founder with great insights into the Internet sector, leaders who are already creating new technologies and businesses, senior leaders with abundant experiences, and highly loyal colleagues.

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As our business portfolio became diversified, the number of experts and talents in each field has increased, and through this process, we have become a truly strong “team.” TEAM NAVER, a large organization made up of a number of robust engines moving as a single team is what I consider our greatest competitive advantage.

Q. What kinds of opportunities is NAVER creating in the global market?

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Japan is an important market for NAVER. We were able to demonstrate our capabilities as a business creator by launching Project Flower in 2016 to support the growth of SMEs. By transferring this experience to Japan, we plan to foster an SME ecosystem and gain more market share. We will also scale the growth of B2B services such as LINE WORKS, NAVER Cloud, and NAVER CLOLVA.

NAVER’s focus in the U.S. is on the content business, driven by webtoon and web novels. Webtoons and web novels have become a genre and a medium per se, and the endless scalability and value chain of IP has been demonstrated on our platform. A new member of TEAM NAVER, Wattpad, the largest web novel platform in North America, will enable creators around the world to feel this excitement.

In Europe, NAVER is the only Korean company with globally recognized AI technology, made possible through our collaboration with top-class developers in NAVER LABS Europe. Going forward, we will implement NAVER’s technology and SME ecosystem-building know-how in local partners in vertical commerce such as Wallapop, Spain’s No. 1 luxury resale commerce platform.

TEAM NAVER’s services and technology are already used by 700 million global users based on MAU. Going forward, we will challenge ourselves with the goal of achieving 1 billion global users and 15 trillion won revenue within 5 years by expanding global market sales and new business ecosystems.

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Q. What role does the CEO need to play in TEAM NAVER?

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I believe my role is to become the “focal point” of TEAM NAVER going forward. Currently, NAVER operates fully capable business divisions that most top global tech companies have. For each business to come together as TEAM NAVER and accelerate its move towards a single destination, I believe that a leader should be at the “center” of the organization, not “above” it.

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TEAM NAVER consists of various experts/groups, numerous internal and external partners. We will continuously try to strengthen connections between businesses and make room for growth so that they can form a connective ecosystem and become stronger together. As the focal point of NAVER, I plan to provide input and lead the strategic goals across business units while focusing on collaboration and communication among them. Thank you ●

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