[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] With Choi In-hyuk, the former Chief Operating Officer (COO) who faced responsibility issues related to an employee death caused by workplace harassment at Naver, stepping down from all positions within the company, there are expectations that organizational culture reform under CEO Choi Soo-hyun’s leadership will gain momentum.
According to Naver on the 19th, former COO Choi recently conveyed his intention to resign from the position of Happy Bean CEO and officially stepped down.
Choi, a founding member who joined Naver in 1999, was once considered a strong candidate for the next Naver Chief Executive Officer (CEO), but with this resignation, he has relinquished all his roles at Naver. Previously, in May last year, following the employee death incident caused by workplace harassment, he took moral responsibility and resigned from his roles as COO, registered director, and CEO of the advertising division’s Biz CIC.
Within the company, there is keen interest in how former COO Choi’s resignation will impact CEO Choi Soo-hyun’s efforts to reform the organizational culture. Before taking office, CEO Choi personally met with about 400 employees to listen to issues within Naver’s organizational structure and sought solutions.
After assuming office, to prevent workplace harassment incidents, she established a ‘Workplace Harassment Investigation Committee’ directly under the board of directors. She also introduced new compensation and welfare systems, including a shutdown system based on legal working hours, a 10% increase in salary resources, and up to six months of unpaid leave for employees with more than three years of service. She emphasized, "I see restoring Naver’s unique corporate culture based on trust and autonomy as an immediate task for our leap forward," showing strong determination for reform.
Despite CEO Choi’s efforts, many remained skeptical about the ease of organizational reform. This was because senior executives, including former COO Choi who was identified as responsible after the employee death incident, either moved to affiliate company CEO positions or retained their posts, allowing them to still exert influence. Many believed it would be difficult to implement reform policies without considering these ‘senior predecessors’ who are CEO Choi’s seniors.
In this regard, former COO Choi’s voluntary resignation is seen as a genuine turning point for organizational reform. Notably, former COO Choi has been a close associate of Naver founder and Global Investment Officer (GIO) Lee Hae-jin since their time at Samsung SDS.
A Naver official said, "A true generational change is being completed," and added, "We hope this will be an opportunity to improve the organizational culture."
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