Leadership vacuum looms at Naver Financial following suicide scandal

Naver Financial CEO Choi In-hyuk / Courtesy of Naver

By Park Jae-hyuk

Naver Financial appears to be facing a leadership vacuum after Naver CEO Han Seong-sook accepted a recommendation by the online search portal's risk management committee that Choi In-hyuk, the head of the fintech arm, be suspended.

“It is true that the risk management committee recommended the suspension of several former and incumbent team leaders, who were subject to an internal investigation,” a Naver spokesman said. “We cannot verify other details, because the committee's independent investigation is underway.”

It is yet to be ascertained whether Choi has been suspended from all his duties ― Naver chief operating officer (COO), Naver Financial CEO and Happybean Foundation CEO.

His suspension comes on the heels of the death of a Naver programmer, which is being investigated by Bundang Police Station.

The programmer in his 40s was found dead near his apartment located close to the company's headquarters in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province, May 25, with a note presumed to have been written by him. The note indicated extreme stress from workplace bullying with the names of several people on it, according to the police.

Choi is said to have pushed ahead with the rehiring of the deceased worker's boss from Netmarble in 2019, despite opposition from Naver employees who had worked under the man in the past. The COO is also said to have defended the man in question, even though several Naver employees complained about his violent behavior displayed at work after his return.

In a statement released Wednesday, the Korean Chemistry & Textile Federation of Unions, the umbrella organization of the Naver union, urged the company's management to ascertain the truth behind the worker's death, discipline those related to the incident and reform the company's organizational culture.

“According to multiple testimonies, the deceased's boss was also responsible for workplace bullying and other problems at Netmarble, to where he had moved after causing trouble at Naver,” the statement reads. “The fact that Naver gave such a problematic person such an important position shows the company's personnel management has been based on cronyism.”

If the allegations facing Choi turn out to be true, Naver may suffer setbacks in pursuing several new businesses in the financial sector, such as data-driven finance, digital currency, insurance services and deferred payment.