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In December 2025, N AWARDS 2025 was held at NAVER’s 1784 headquarters to celebrate the technologies, creative achievements, and ideas that drove TEAM NAVER’s innovation over the past year.

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The ceremony brought together the N INNOVATION AWARD, which has honored technological excellence for 17 years; the N CREATIVE AWARD, which highlights creative accomplishments that redefined user experiences; and the Open Idea Challenge, NAVER’s internal idea competition. It offered a moment to reflect on projects that created meaningful change and to recognize the people behind them. Here, we share a glimpse of the atmosphere, filled with pride in shared achievements and warm applause for colleagues.

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N AWARDS 2025: Spotlighting projects that enhanced user experience and business performance

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N AWARDS 2025 looked not only at technology and ideas themselves, but also at how they transformed user experience and delivered business results within the NAVER ecosystem.

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The ceremony was attended by NAVER’s leadership, including CEO Choi Soo-yeon, COO Kim Bom-jun, Tech Platform Division Head Chang Joon-kee, and Creative & Experience Division Head Choi So-hyun. They presented the awards and offered applause and words of encouragement to the recipients in recognition of the innovation they created throughout the year.

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N INNOVATION AWARD 2025 :

Innovative technologies created in the pursuit of a better today

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At NAVER, innovation is born not from major breakthroughs, but from continuous, small improvements that make today better than yesterday. The N INNOVATION AWARD this year honored technology projects that fueled meaningful innovation in their respective domains, delivering better user experiences and strengthening the competitiveness of NAVER’s services.

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Among the winners were projects that brought greater convenience and enjoyment to users’ everyday lives. One example is AI Briefing, which provides at-a-glance summaries of search results based on user intent. Also recognized were core foundational technologies, such as cloud and storage, that underpin the stable operation of large-scale traffic and AI features, as well as AR navigation that overcomes the limitations of traditional GPS to help users find their way even in complex indoor environments.

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In addition, the awards turned the spotlight on members who played a key role in reinforcing NAVER’s technological foundations and fostering a culture of communication. Teams that contributed to the stability and innovation of NAVER’s technology and services across security, incident response, prevention, quality, efficiency, and sharing, were recognized and celebrated for their efforts.

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N CREATIVE AWARD 2025 :

Creative innovation that connected spaces, technology, and services with users from a new perspective

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The N CREATIVE AWARD, which highlights the creative efforts and achievements of TEAM NAVER, acknowledged projects that externally drove positive change and outcomes by clearly identifying user pain points, while also boosting productivity internally through improved ways of working and tools.

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The standout winners included the Map Discovery Tab, which redefined exploration and discovery through close observation of user behavior and flow; Connect Lounge, a new space where users can experience NAVER’s technology and culture; SNOW’s AI image generation platform that enables anyone to easily generate high-quality images; and Npay Welfare Point, which turned corporate benefits into a tangible user experience. These projects were met with enthusiastic applause for designing new user experiences through the organic connection of space, technology, and services.

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NAVER’s creativity in delivering better user experiences stems from creative ideas, diverse collaboration and connections, and innovation in productivity. Although they did not make the top three, projects that brought about meaningful change in creativity, connectivity, and productivity were also recognized and celebrated together.

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Open Idea Challenge :

Ideas unlocking new possibilities in NAVER’s AI ecosystem

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The Open Idea Challenge, NAVER’s internal idea competition exploring new possibilities for its AI ecosystem, was held this year under the themes of “AI agentification of NAVER services” and “healthcare services.” Following document screening and internal presentations evaluated by executives and domain leaders, three ideas were chosen from 204 submissions as winners for their potential to make everyday life more convenient for users through NAVER’s AI ecosystem.

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Sustaining the NAVER way of innovation

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N AWARDS 2025 awarded 33 teams that transformed challenges into tangible results through a deep understanding of user context and the persistent pursuit of incremental improvements.

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This year, projects that seamlessly bridged online and offline spatial experiences and integrated AI across various domains stood out for providing more convenient and enjoyable experiences. Infrastructure technologies that supported TEAM NAVER members in fully leveraging their technical and creative capabilities also made a strong impact, together propelling innovation in the most NAVER way possible.

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Looking ahead, NAVER will continue to take steps forward, remaining committed to backing the members who drive technological and creative change to deliver more meaningful user experiences.