Global expansion No. 1 mission for new Naver CEO

Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon / Courtesy of Naver

By Baek Byung-yeul

Naver, a leading internet company here, appointed in-house executive Choi Soo-yeon as its new CEO at its board meeting on March 14. Behind Naver's decision to choose the 41-year-old leader is its strategy to seek overseas expansion, according to company officials, Wednesday.

Upon approval by the board's members, Choi also hinted that she will actively pursue expanding into overseas markets. "I understand that my appointment as CEO shows tremendous trust from the shareholders in Naver and its members and is a mandate to now take on a much bigger challenge."

Naver has been operating various businesses not only in the domestic market, but also overseas, ranging from mobile instant messaging app. service Line, online comic service Webtoon, and Zepeto, a metaverse platform service.

Choi expressed her willingness to create "Naver as an incubator," which goes beyond the existing business areas that previous executives have cultivated.

"All Naver services start with the global market in mind. Naver will become an incubator of new businesses, where global brands surpass Line, Webtoon and Zepeto, which were created by senior management and members, will constantly emerge. We will continue to innovate," she said.

Naver has been steadily knocking on the door of the global market. In 2011, the company launched the mobile messenger service, Line, in Japan. The service, which has around 200 million monthly active users, is now operated by joint venture Z Holdings, established by Naver and Softbank.

In May 2020, the company moved the headquarters of Naver Webtoon, which oversees its webcomics business, to Los Angeles, and acquired Canada-based web novel platform Wattpad in January 2021. Its metaverse platform, Zepeto, has garnered about 300 million monthly users as well.

Regarding the details of how the new CEO will develop new businesses, a Naver spokesman said, "She will soon set up a meeting to reveal her concrete strategy."

Saying that "global expansion has been an inherent direction of Naver from the beginning," the spokesman also emphasized that the new leader will strengthen the company's agenda to expand into markets overseas.

"We have established overseas branches since 2000, when we were a start-up company, and have been trying to enter the global market since early on," the official said. "With the development of mobile technology, global big tech firms like Google have increased their direct penetration into the Korean market. In this situation, we think it is difficult to guarantee growth only by services targeting the domestic market."

Kim Dae-jong, a professor at the School of Business at Sejong University, said the new Naver CEO's aim to expand into markets globally is the right direction in terms of strengthening the company's platform power.

"Korea's internet companies have grown based on the country's high smartphone penetration rate and fast internet speed. I think Naver has a sufficient chance to expand its presence overseas," the professor said.

"Naver's smartphone messenger service, Line, has gained huge popularity in Japan and other countries, as more than 100 million people are using this service. It has also ranked first in the world with its webcomics service, called Webtoon. I think it is the right move to expand this competitiveness further overseas," Kim added.

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