KT's Koo Hyun-mo Drastically Strengthens 'Legal Line'... Kim Hee-gwan Appointed as Chief Compliance Officer

Compliance Committee Chair 'Vice Minister Level' Kim Heegwan, Former Director of the Judicial Research and Training Institute, Recruited
Legal Affairs Director is Ahn Sangdon, Former Chief Prosecutor of Seoul Northern District Prosecutors' Office
Adherence to Compliance Management Principles, Strategy to Minimize Risks from External Influence and Internal Corruption

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] KT is significantly strengthening its 'legal team' by recruiting former Legal Training Institute Director Kim Hee-gwan (pictured) as the Chair of the Compliance Committee (Chief Compliance Officer) and appointing former Seoul Northern District Prosecutor General Ahn Sang-don as the Head of Legal Affairs. This move is interpreted as a commitment to adhere to compliance management principles across KT's entire business and internal procedures, minimizing management 'risks' caused by external pressures or internal corruption.

On the 3rd, KT recruited former Legal Training Institute Director Kim Hee-gwan as the permanent Chair of the Compliance Committee. Kim previously served as Chief Prosecutor of the Daejeon High Prosecutors' Office and the Gwangju High Prosecutors' Office. After completing his term as the 41st Director of the Legal Training Institute in 2015, he has been practicing as a lawyer at Kim Hee-gwan Law Office since 2017. The Compliance Committee was made permanent by merging the Compliance Office of the Legal Affairs Department and the non-permanent Compliance Risk Diagnosis team of the Ethics Management Office.

KT also recruited former Seoul Northern District Prosecutor General Ahn Sang-don (representative lawyer of Law Firm Class) as the new Head of Legal Affairs (Vice President level). Ahn passed the 30th Judicial Examination in 1988 and has served as a prosecutor in the Ministry of Justice's Legal Affairs Office, Chief Prosecutor at Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, Head of the Criminal Division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, and Prosecutor General of the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors' Office. In addition to KT itself, its affiliate KTH newly appointed former Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Gwangju High Prosecutors' Office Lee Seok-hwan as an outside director. Lee, the new outside director, is a legal professional who previously served as Chief Prosecutor of the Cheongju District Prosecutors' Office.

Through reinforcing legal personnel, KT plans to establish a stronger compliance and ethics management stance under the new CEO Koo Hyun-mo than ever before. Over the past two years, KT's image has suffered significant damage due to multiple raids and summons related to hiring irregularities and violations of political funding laws, unrelated to its telecommunications and media businesses.

Changes in the Government Relations (CR) organization's response are also expected. KT reduced its CR organization this year and expanded its compliance monitoring organization through a January restructuring. This is interpreted as a willingness to demonstrate regulatory and issue response capabilities by strengthening legal and regulatory response teams rather than the typical government relations work of obtaining information and negotiating through the National Assembly or regulatory bodies. A telecommunications industry insider said, "Although the CR and Compliance Committee have distinct areas of responsibility organizationally, the permanent establishment of the compliance monitoring organization will bring significant changes to the internal communication system."