NHN CEO Jung Woo-jin has declared this year the group’s first year of new growth, saying its overall corporate value will take a step up.

In a New Year message sent on Thursday to employees across the group’s affiliates, Jung said it was a meaningful achievement that NHN restored its profit-generating capacity after shoring up fundamentals over the past few years. He said the company will deliver full-fledged growth this year centered on core businesses including games, technology and payments.

In games, NHN will cement its dominant No. 1 position in web-board games and release 6 new titles to target global markets. 'Dissidia Duelum Final Fantasy,' being developed by Japanese unit NHN PlayArt, is set for release in the first half. The company also plans to introduce 'Oshi no Ko Puzzle Star,' based on a popular intellectual property.

AI is at the core of its technology business. NHN Cloud plans to lead a national AI infrastructure expansion project as a supplier of an "AI Factory" spanning South Korea’s AI ecosystem, with a goal of improving both revenue and profitability. Japan’s NHN Tecorus will also expand its scope into SaaS and groupware.

The payments and content businesses will also strengthen fundamentals. Payco and KCP will pursue new businesses including stablecoins, while the content unit plans to continue aggressive investment in performance production and infrastructure, building on the success of the musical "Maybe Happy Ending."

Jung also called for an "AI transformation" of the company’s culture. NHN opened an in-house office AI platform called "Playground" in South Korea and Japan at the end of last year.

Jung said "Playground" is the starting point for the organisation to evolve into one that can handle AI well. He stressed that this year will be the year AI-led work innovation takes root across the group.

He added that when all employees prepare for the AI era with an open mind, NHN will become a strong organisation that spans technology, people and markets. He urged employees to take an active stance and create NHN’s next success story together.