Kakao Entertainment is building a new leadership structure by appointing a new co-CEO.

On Thursday, Kakao Entertainment said it had tapped Ko Jeong-hee (고정희), former head of KakaoBank’s AI group, as incoming co-CEO and would shift to a co-CEO system led by Jang Yoon-jung (장윤중) and Ko.

The incoming co-CEO is expected to be formally appointed through a shareholders' meeting and board of directors process and officially take office in late March. Existing co-CEO Kwon Ki-soo (권기수) will step down for personal reasons.

Kakao Entertainment said it will focus under the new leadership on global growth centered on intellectual property in music, story and media, and on strengthening the competitiveness of its platform services.

Ko is a leader who has grown within the Kakao Group and has extensive experience and insight in the information and communications technology industry. She joined the Kakao Group in 2002 and was responsible for community businesses such as Daum Cafe and blogs, as well as services at its Japan subsidiary. She later served as KakaoBank’s chief service officer, chief strategy officer and, most recently, head of its AI group.

She revamped KakaoBank into a financial service with convenience and stability suited to users and led innovation in the financial sector with various conversational AI services, demonstrating leadership in platforms and services. Ko plans to push advances and innovation in Kakao Entertainment’s platform and service strategies and focus on securing distinctive competitiveness.

Jang plans to focus on securing global mega IP, flesh out a global roadmap across all business areas and actively pursue new business opportunities.

Jang and Ko said, "Kakao Entertainment is building a strong IP value chain with premium IP and differentiated platform services. Based on this, we will advance synergies across businesses and firmly establish ourselves as a key player in the global entertainment industry."