Microsoft Korea acting CEO faces key tasks
By Kim Yoo-chul
Choi Ky-young MS Korea senior vice president
Microsoft (MS) Korea Senior Vice President Choi Ky-young faces key tasks as the company’s newly appointed acting CEO. Outgoing CEO James Kim will be moving to General Motors Korea as the automotive company’s new chief executive.
The top management position at MS Korea has been vacant since Kim left. The company said Choi will be the acting CEO until further announcement by the company headquarters in the United States.
Choi was the head of marketing for the Korean subsidiary of the U.S. software licensing giant, during which it managed its corporate customer business division.
Choi’s first key task is to mend the company’s disintegrating ties with Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) owing to the latter’s alleged violation of licensing agreements.
MS Korea spokeswoman Angela Seungyeon Lee said the company hasn’t considered taking KEPCO to local courts to explore its legal options.
“Royalties are the key revenue source of MS Korea. Outgoing CEO James Kim has made significant contributions to solving similar issues with the defense ministry and Samsung Electronics.
Acting CEO Choi, therefore, needs to present the right solutions for the ongoing issues with KEPCO,” said an industry official who declined to be named.
MS Korea recently agreed with the Fair Trade Commission to freeze patent fees and abstain from discriminatory practices in exchange for getting permission to acquire Nokia’s device and service businesses.
Also, it resolved a legal battle with Samsung Electronics in return for the latter’s agreement to pre-install MS solutions inside the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge smartphones.
Another important task for the acting CEO is to ensure customers’ smooth transition to the Windows 10 software from previous Windows versions, officials said.
Windows 10 will be available from July 29 and will be free for eligible Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users.
The officials say the Windows system is widely used in Korea, and any glitches during the update may hurt the company’s key servers, and consequently, its systems’ credibility.
MS Korea also confirmed that it is being audited by officials from its headquarters.
“Internal audits can play an important role in turning business continuity into a real driver of change and in measuring and improving processes and operational efficiency. This isn’t something new; it is a normal part of inspections according to internal schedules,” the official said.
It’s highly unlikely that the acting CEO will have to do any major changes to MS Korea’s business structures, but “improving operational efficiency is another issue that Choi needs to focus on,” another industry official said.