Minister Han Seong-sook Nominated as Prime Minister Candidate... "Former Naver Executives on the Rise"

Minister Choi Hwi-young and Former AI Chief Ha Jung-woo Also from Naver

The Blue House announced on the 7th that President Lee Jae-myung has nominated Han Seong-sook, Minister of SMEs and Startups, as the new Prime Minister candidate. The photo shows President Lee presenting a certificate of appointment to Minister Han last year and taking a commemorative photo. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

With Han Seong-sook, Minister of SMEs and Startups, being nominated as the second Prime Minister of the Lee Jae-myung administration, the appointment of a series of former Naver executives is once again drawing attention.

On the 7th, Kang Hoon-sik, Chief Presidential Secretary, announced in a briefing that President Lee has nominated Minister Han as the next Prime Minister candidate. At the Blue House briefing, Secretary Kang explained the reason for the nomination by stating, "Given her experience as CEO of an IT company and as Minister of SMEs and Startups, she is the right person to seamlessly lead the era-defining transition to artificial intelligence (AI) and to drive growth for all of Korea, not just a portion of the population."

Han was CEO of Naver in 2017 and became the first female CEO since Naver's founding. During her tenure, she was recognized for her "hands-on leadership" and her balanced, yet strong, leadership style. Born in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, Han was appointed as the first Minister of SMEs and Startups when the current administration was launched, making her a prominent example of former Naver executives entering the Blue House.

Han's nomination as Prime Minister has once again brought attention to the continued rise of former Naver executives. Currently, Choi Hwi-young, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, is also a former Naver executive, having served as Director of Planning at NHN Naver Headquarters, Head of NHN Naver Division, and CEO overseeing NHN's domestic operations.

Ha Jung-woo, former Chief of AI Future Planning at the Presidential Office, who resigned in April to run in a parliamentary by-election, is also a former Naver executive, previously serving as Head of the Naver Cloud AI Innovation Center. Ha ran in the North Buk-gu, Busan parliamentary by-election, considered the most competitive race, but was defeated by independent candidate Han Dong-hoon.

Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, is taking a commemorative photo after a samgyeopsal gathering on June 5th at a barbecue restaurant in Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul with Chey Tae-won, Chairman of SK, Koo Kwang-mo, Chairman of LG, and Lee Hae-jin, Chairman of Naver. Photo by Dongju Yoon

Naver, the nation's largest portal, is expanding its business domains by strengthening search, online advertising, and commerce through AI. Recently, the company has been aggressively advancing in AI and has also acquired a stake in Dunamu to secure competitiveness in the virtual asset business.

Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, who is currently visiting Korea, will visit Naver's 1784 headquarters on June 8 to discuss cooperation on AI infrastructure. Prior to this, CEO Huang is scheduled to meet Naver Chairman Lee Hae-jin again to discuss specific cooperation plans after their gathering at a samgyeopsal restaurant near Hongdae on June 5.

Naver and Nvidia are actively pursuing a partnership to build a global AI factory, strengthening their collaboration. Naver plans to move beyond simply receiving Nvidia's graphics processing units (GPUs), aiming to form a strategic technology alliance that spans AI infrastructure, models, services, and physical AI.

An industry insider commented, "With individuals from the private sector being appointed not only as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT, but also as Minister of SMEs and Startups, and now as Prime Minister, the pace of Korea's AX transition is expected to accelerate even further." However, the insider also noted, "There are some concerns about the concentration of talent from a specific company, so it is unlikely that the direct interests of that company will be significantly affected."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.