[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Cho] "Several outcomes of the super-collaboration will emerge early this year. Through all-encompassing super-collaboration that transcends domains and boundaries, we will maximize our value as a leading global ICT company."
Park Jung-ho, the "challenger" and CEO of SK Telecom, who has entered his second management term, declared a leap toward becoming a "New ICT comprehensive company." The results of super-collaboration across industries and the company-wide adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) are expected to materialize soon.
On the morning of the 26th, SK Telecom held its 36th regular shareholders' meeting at the T Tower in Euljiro, Seoul, where the reappointment of CEO Park as an inside director was approved. Having taken office in 2017, Park will now fully take on the role of transforming SK Telecom from a simple telecommunications company into a comprehensive ICT company during his second three-year management term starting this year.
This is a continuation of the 탈 (?) telecommunications strategy that Park has strongly advocated during his first term. At the shareholders' meeting, Park said, "We have laid the foundation for a new leap in the mobile telecommunications business, and media, security, and commerce businesses have established themselves as new growth pillars," adding, "We will continue global super-collaboration." He expressed determination to make this year the first year of tangible achievements by focusing on telecommunications and New ICT businesses as two main pillars.
AI super-collaboration will also be intensified. Park mentioned that he has been discussing super-collaboration with CEOs of Comcast, Kakao, Singtel, and others, and announced that super-collaboration in the gaming sector will be the first to materialize. He said, "Super-collaboration is not something that can be done alone," and expressed expectations for the outcomes, stating, "It is going beyond the usual level, with increasing scope and depth."
Having demonstrated his challenger spirit by participating in major mergers and acquisitions (M&A) of the SK Group, Park is also open to additional M&A. This year, he is expected to accelerate efforts such as establishing an intermediate holding company, concretizing scenarios for governance restructuring, changing the company name to fit a comprehensive ICT company, and listing subsidiaries. Candidates include SK Broadband, 11st, ADT Caps, One Store, and Wavve. However, due to the macroeconomic freeze caused by the spread of COVID-19, the timing of initial public offerings (IPO) is expected to be delayed from the original plan.
Park said, "We need to observe how the COVID-19 situation will unfold globally, but we anticipate more setbacks in the real economy than expected," and explained that they have prepared a response system up to the worst-case scenario in three stages. Regarding the group’s governance restructuring, he mentioned, "We will create the optimal structure and make necessary adjustments."
Despite the difficult situation, he expressed his will to enhance medium- to long-term corporate value through responsible management. At the shareholders' meeting, SK Telecom granted stock options to executives for the third consecutive year. This move reflects SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won's policy to "strengthen responsible management by each affiliate." Park also cited corporate value as the most important mission in his second term.
Considering the spread of COVID-19, the shareholders' meeting was broadcast live online. This demonstrated Park’s commitment to "communication," accommodating shareholders who could not attend in person. Last year, SK Telecom also received praise for its shareholder-friendly policies by holding a shareholders' meeting reminiscent of a business briefing, including presentations by four major division heads and Q&A sessions with management.
Meanwhile, SK Telecom’s financial statements for last year were approved on a consolidated basis, showing annual sales of KRW 17.7437 trillion, operating profit of KRW 1.11 trillion, and net profit of KRW 861.9 billion. The cash dividend was confirmed at KRW 10,000 per share, including the interim dividend of KRW 1,000 paid in August last year.
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