Science and ICT Committee's Kim Young-sik: "KT's 'Secret Collusion' Must Transparently Disclose CEO Selection Process"

KT, Recipient of Public Heritage, Causes National Loss with De-Telecommunication Policy
Repeated Accidents and Failures Inflict Damage on National Economy, Apology Required

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] Kim Young-sik, a member of the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Communications Committee from the People Power Party (photo), demanded an apology from KT for causing national losses due to its 탈통신 (de-telecommunication) policy. He also requested that the process of selecting the representative candidate be transparently disclosed to the public.

At the party floor strategy meeting held at 8:30 a.m. on the 6th at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, Representative Kim said, "South Korea, which once prided itself on being a world-class 'internet powerhouse,' has seen a sharp decline in its telecommunications service competitiveness in recent years," adding, "This is due to telecom companies neglecting investment in network advancement while shouting 탈통신 (de-telecommunication), compounded by the incompetence of the Moon Jae-in administration that turned a blind eye." Recently, the global internet speed measurement site Speedtest analyzed that as of November last year, South Korea ranked 34th in average ultra-high-speed internet speed worldwide.

Kim pointed out, "Among them, KT, which inherited the wired communication network built by the public sector, also bears significant responsibility," and said, "KT's 탈통신 (de-telecommunication) policy not only lowered the competitiveness of telecommunication services but also caused great damage to the national economy through repeated accidents and failures." Following the Ahyeon-dong communication duct fire in 2018 and the internet outage incident in 2021, an internet access failure occurred again on January 2 this year in the Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam regions.

Kim said, "The public is pointing fingers at KT, which was once South Korea's representative telecommunications company, calling it not a 'national enterprise' but a 'national nuisance enterprise,'" and added, "Despite inheriting public assets, KT, as a national telecommunications company, neglected its core business of telecommunications, weakening the competitiveness of telecommunication services that form the foundation of the country's future competitiveness." He further criticized, "KT has been accused of 'closed-door collusion' for not responding at all to media and National Assembly requests for disclosure of materials during the representative candidate selection process." The KT board announced on the 28th of last month that it had selected Koo Hyun-mo, KT's CEO, as the final candidate for the next CEO to be presented at next year's regular shareholders' meeting. In response, the largest shareholder, the National Pension Service, raised objections to the selection process.