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In September 2024, the “Milken Institute” – a U.S. non-profit economic research institute – invited NAVER CFO Kim Nam-sun to give a talk in a special session of the “2024 Milken Institute Asia Summit” held in Singapore. This article contains his summarized and cited interview with CBNC, the U.S. economic news outlet after the session.

Q. What global businesses is NAVER up to currently?

First of all, NAVER is building a national-level digital twin platform in Saudi Arabia. As the project is at its initial stage, we are exploring different regions in Saudi Arabia to seek various opportunities. NAVER is also seeking new opportunities in Southeast Asia where we have expanded our businesses based on LINE, and we are continuously expanding our Japanese market.

In North America, we are expanding our businesses based on Poshmark, and NAVER WEBTOON which was listed on the NASDAQ last month. For WEBTOON, sales from overseas markets account for more than 50% of the entire sales, a significant amount of which is from the North American region. This goes to show the expansion of NAVER’s global influence, which will further be leveraged for other future endeavors.

*Digital Twin: a technology that allows replication of the real world onto the digital world

Q. NAVER has made various achievements, including acquiring Poshmark. What does the future hold for NAVER?

Up until 50 to 60 years ago, Korean economy relied on cheap labor and exports for growth. However, in the last 20 years, Korea’s growth was propelled by manufacturing world-class consumer goods, such as cars, smartphones, semiconductors and more. Especially, Korea became a pioneer in the field of internet, marking its position as a developed country that achieved mobile transition faster than any other country in the world.

Now, Korea is a leader in other consumer goods and the service sector, such as beauty, fashion, and healthcare, and many are attempting to enter the overseas market. At NAVER, as Korea’s leading internet company, we believe it is our responsibility to venture out to the global market and achieve consistent growth rather than staying in the domestic market.

NAVER has become the number one search engine in Korea based on strong technological fundamentals built over the years. Along with that, NAVER has consolidated its position as the largest Korean e-commerce channel and strengthened its AI and live shopping capabilities. Going forward, we plan on creating successful outcomes in the consumer-centered online service industry as well as the B2B software industry by seeking new opportunities and offering solutions that stand out ●