Naver Taps Woman as Next CEO

Published on 2016/10/23 | Source

Han Seong-sook

Naver said Thursday that it has tapped a female executive as the Internet giant's next CEO. If Han Seong-sook is appointed in a shareholders' meeting and board meeting next March, she becomes the first woman at the helm of a major Korean IT company.

A Naver staffer said the company "is in the process of a generational change".

Han (49) graduated from Sookmyung Women's University in 1989 and was among the founding members of Internet search portal Empas. She joined Naver in 2007. She is single, said to be married to her job, and knows all 2,400 Naver employees by name.

Incumbent CEO Kim Sang-hun will stay in the post until March and then become an advisor.

He became CEO in 2009 and has overseen the runaway global success of the company's Line messaging app. But a source said he now feels it is time for a change at the top "so Naver can evolve as a top global company".