[Exclusive] Yoonyoung Park: "Split-off Listings of Subsidiaries Could Be Problematic"... KT Pursues KT Cloud Merger

Integrated AI, Cloud, and Network Services at Once
Reintegration Considered After Ban on Duplicate Subsidiary Listings

Yoonyoung Park, CEO of KT, Yonhap News Agency

Yoonyoung Park, CEO of KT, is pursuing a plan to reintegrate KT Cloud, which was spun off four years ago. With the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) in recent years, the importance of the data center (DC) business has grown, and telecommunications companies are expanding their business domain into "AI infrastructure companies." This is part of a strategy to provide integrated AI, cloud, and network services all at once. Additionally, the government's recent ban on dual listings of subsidiaries affiliated with large conglomerates has effectively blocked KT Cloud's IPO, further supporting the case for the merger of KT Cloud.

According to the IT industry on June 25, CEO Park recently began organizational restructuring as part of his decision to pursue the reintegration of KT Cloud. Bongkyun Kim, Executive Vice President of KT Enterprise, has taken on the additional role of CEO of KT Cloud, signaling the countdown to the merger. In a recent meeting with top executives, CEO Park remarked that "split-off listings could become a significant issue when subsidiaries go public," indicating that he is considering an aggressive push into the corporate client market through reintegration rather than listing KT Cloud.

In particular, industry analysts believe that having the head of KT Enterprise concurrently serve as CEO of KT Cloud is a move designed with reintegration in mind, aiming to create synergy between B2B sales divisions. Having previously headed KT's corporate business unit and with extensive experience in B2B sales, CEO Park is seen as likely to ramp up efforts in the enterprise market through the cloud merger.

If KT Cloud is reintegrated, the company would be able to offer integrated AI, cloud, DC, and network services, providing B2B customers with packaged solutions. As the data center business becomes increasingly critical due to the rapid evolution of AI, this is seen as a blueprint for transforming KT into an AI infrastructure company that unifies telecommunications, cloud, and data centers.

An industry insider commented, "CEO Park is the person with the deepest understanding of the B2B business within KT," adding, "In the wake of last year's hacking incident, which incurred significant costs, and amid sluggish internal business, KT is seeking a breakthrough by reintegrating KT Cloud."

Meanwhile, KT Cloud's revenue last year reached 997.5 billion won, up 27.4% from the previous year. Growth was driven by increased data center utilization and a rise in public AI cloud contracts.

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