Naver Recruits Former Vice Minister of National Defense Kim Sunho as Full-Time Management Advisor... "Strengthening Defense AX"

Completed Employment Review for Retired Public Officials

Kim Sunho, Acting Minister of National Defense last year, answering questions from lawmakers at the National Defense Committee plenary session held at the National Assembly. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

Former Vice Minister of National Defense Kim Sunho has been appointed as a full-time executive advisor at Naver.

According to Naver as of August 5, Kim recently completed the government-mandated employment review for retired public officials and is currently finalizing his official start date.

Naver, which is accelerating its AI transformation (AX) initiatives in the public and defense sectors, plans to leverage Kim's in-depth understanding of the military and government organizations to target the defense market more proactively. The company views this move as a strategic effort to respond to future defense AI transformation projects by utilizing Kim's expertise and experience in both defense and government policy domains.

Kim is a graduate of the 43rd class of the Korea Military Academy and served in the military for over 30 years. He is recognized as an expert in military force structure and planning. After serving as Director of Force Planning at the Joint Chiefs of Staff and as Commander of the Capital Defense Command, he retired as a Lieutenant General in 2020. He was appointed as Vice Minister of National Defense in October 2023 and held the post until June last year.

During the December 3 Martial Law crisis of 2024, Kim served as the acting Minister of National Defense following the resignation of his predecessor, Kim Yonghyun, and was credited with managing the martial law phase in a relatively stable manner. In his farewell address, he stated, "The December 3 Martial Law undermined the political neutrality that the military must uphold," and added, "As someone who held a key leadership position when the crisis occurred, I still feel boundless responsibility for not preventing it and failing in my duty."

Industry sources expect that Kim, with his deep understanding of government and military organizations, will play a significant role in shaping Naver Cloud's domestic and international public and defense AX business strategies, as Naver Cloud is aggressively pursuing its defense AX businesses. Naver Cloud has established a dedicated AI organization for defense projects and is expediting the development of defense-specialized AI models and related businesses. The company aims to deploy AI agents across all areas of national defense by 2030.

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