Nam Hyun-woo has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2013, mostly covering business and politics. He currently belongs to the Business Desk where he covers topics such as emerging tech, AI, ICT and Korea's chaebol community. Prior to joining the team, he was the paper's correspondent for the presidential office of Korea during the Yoon Suk Yeol and Moon Jae-in administrations.
New KT CEO vows $12 bil. investment for transition to AI platform company
KT CEO Park Yoon-young gestures during a press conference on the company's artificial intelligence transformation business plans in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap
By Nam Hyun-woo
Park outlines token factory as new growth model
New KT CEO Park Yoon-young pledged Monday to invest 18 trillion won ($11.77 billion) into network security and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, as part of his plan to rebrand the telecom operator as an AI transformation platform company.
Park said KT seeks to become an AI transformation platform company built on two core business pillars: its telecommunications business and AI business, which includes data centers, cable and AI transformation services.
“The network business is our foundation, and we have to make that foundation stronger so we can build the company's next stage of growth through AI transformation," Park said during a press conference in Seoul, his first since taking office in March.
“Our vision is built on two pillars: reinforcing our core business while driving the company's next phase of growth through AI transformation.
To strengthen its telecommunications business, KT plans to invest 12 trillion won over the next three years in information security, IT and network infrastructure.
As part of the investment, 4 trillion won will be allocated to information security and IT innovation.
The company said the investment will be used to establish a zero-trust security framework with around-the-clock prevention and response capabilities and accelerate the transition to cloud-native systems. It also plans to integrate security governance across its IT and network operations to enable faster and more transparent responses to cyber threats.
For its network business, KT will invest 8 trillion won over the same period to improve network quality and secure leadership in next-generation network technologies, including 6G, satellite communications and data center interconnection.
On the AI infrastructure front, KT plans to invest 5 trillion won over the next five years to expand its data center business. The company also plans to invest 1 trillion won to add more than 90 terabits per second of underwater cable capacity.
Park stressed that KT's strategy differs from that of other data center operators because its expansion plans are based on committed customer demand rather than speculative investment.
The company plans to build about 25 data centers nationwide, bringing its total capacity to around 1 gigawatt over the next five years. In doing so, he said KT will leverage its network of more than 3,500 exchange buildings across the country to build data centers close to industrial sites, reducing latency and better serving enterprise customers.
KT CEO Park Yoon-young explains the company's token factory business plan during a press conference in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap
For new growth momentum, KT said it is eyeing token factory and stablecoin businesses.
A token is the basic unit used by AI models to process and generate information, and the AI industry uses the term token factory to describe data center infrastructure that generates AI tokens through large-scale computing.
Park said KT’s token factory will be a platform that helps customers use AI tokens more efficiently by selecting the most suitable foundation models for different tasks while optimizing costs, performance and security.
"Telecom operators know better than anyone how pricing and billing plans work," Park said. "Leveraging KT's expertise in billing from its telecommunications business, we will help customers use AI tokens as efficiently as possible, choose the most appropriate foundation models and manage security.”
He expects the business portfolio will help accelerate KT’s global expansion. Setting a goal of generating 1 trillion won in overseas revenue from AI transformation, token factory and stablecoin businesses by 2030, he said KT is already providing AI transformation services in Thailand and Vietnam and plans to expand further across the Global South.
“We will further strengthen our telecommunications business and build solid growth on that foundation, helping Korea become a global leader in AI transformation,” he said.