Meeting Korean Engineers and Entrepreneurs Next Month
CEO Choi Sooyoun and Head of Strategic Investment Kim Namsun to Accompany
Lee Haejin, Chairman of the Naver Board of Directors, will visit Silicon Valley in the United States next month to discuss the establishment of a local investment corporation.
According to the ICT industry on May 16, Lee plans to attend an investment networking event in Silicon Valley early next month and meet with Korean engineers and entrepreneurs. This visit marks Lee's first official overseas schedule since returning to management at the shareholders' meeting in March. Naver CEO Choi Sooyoun and Head of Strategic Investment Kim Namsun are expected to accompany him.
Industry sources say that during this visit, Lee will discuss the establishment of a new investment corporation called "Naver Ventures." Kim Namsun is being strongly considered as the head of this new corporation.
Since acquiring the North American secondhand trading platform Poshmark in 2023, Naver has been accelerating its entry into the US market. Naver's startup investment arm, D2SF, also made its first investments in September 2023 in two North American companies: one specializing in AI-based 3D content creation and another developing multimodal AI focused on fashion.
Meanwhile, following Lee's return to management, Naver is reorganizing its structure by appointing former Chief Operating Officer Choi Inhyuk as the new head of the tech business division. However, the Naver labor union has expressed opposition to Choi's return, citing that he previously resigned due to workplace harassment issues.
At the recent shareholders' meeting, shareholders voiced dissatisfaction over poor AI business performance and a decline in stock prices. In this context, Naver's move in the United States is seen as an effort to find a breakthrough through global business expansion.
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