The leadership contest among the CEOs of South Korea's three mobile carriers is gathering pace as each pursues a distinct approach. KT recently appointed Park Yun-young (박윤영) as CEO, completing the leadership lineup at the three carriers for this year. Each company is putting forward a different strategy as it seeks to secure market leadership.

◆ SK Telecom highlights 'trust recovery' and an 'AI full stack'

SK Telecom is continuing an aggressive push under CEO Jeong Jae-heon (정재헌), emphasising on-site management and an "AI full stack" strategy. Jeong was appointed CEO on March 26 after a shareholders' meeting and a board meeting. Since taking office, he has made expanding customer touchpoints a key task. On March 27, immediately after his appointment, he visited the field in person to check services and communicate with customers. With trust recovery emerging as the top task after last year's USIM hacking incident, he aims to hear customers directly and reflect their views in future management decisions.

In its AI strategy, the company is putting the full stack at the forefront. Jeong met reporters after the shareholders' meeting and stressed, "As a new business, we are ambitiously pushing forward an AI business based on the full stack." He outlined plans to secure competitiveness by building an integrated structure spanning AI infrastructure including data centres, AI models and services. SK Telecom is also participating in the government's "homegrown foundation model" project. With a second-stage evaluation under way, it is betting on "A.Dot K-1", which has upgraded multimodal functions. The goal is to generate synergy through a highly scalable model spanning the public sector and areas such as manufacturing AI.

In its core telecom business, the company is focusing on recovering subscribers. Jeong said, "This year's goal is net subscriber growth." He added, "In January and February, there was net subscriber growth that met expectations. If we keep working, I think what had been a steady decline could change into an increase."

◆ "The basics are competitiveness"... KT's fundamentals-first strategy

KT is seeking to secure organisational and business stability under CEO Park, with "strengthening the essence of telecommunications" as its leading focus. The company has set restoring core competitiveness such as network quality and service stability as its top priority, and is concentrating on reorganising its wired and wireless infrastructure and customer service systems.

Park's first official schedule after taking office on April 1 was to visit information security and network operations sites. It reflects his intention to prioritise security and network stability, which underpin telecom services. In a letter to employees, he said, "A network that customers can trust, stable service quality, and watertight information security are the reason KT exists." He added, "In this area, I will not compromise and will not spare the necessary investment."

KT is also moving quickly to stabilise its organisation. Park replaced the heads of departments directly under the CEO upon taking office and appointed young leaders based on capability in B2B AX business and AI. He also addressed perceptions of a male-dominated organisation. Ok Kyung-hwa (옥경화), head of the IT division, oversees IT technology as the first female vice president. KT is also pressing ahead with organisational efficiency through reforms, including cutting its executive-level organisation by about 30 percent.

Park said, "In the B2C area, we will evolve beyond simple telecommunications into lifestyle AI services that permeate daily life." He added, "In new growth areas such as AI data centres, global AX and digital finance platforms, we will foster them into core engines through strategic investment."

◆ Safety and security differentiation... LG Uplus highlights trust strategy

LG Uplus under CEO Hong Beom-sik (홍범식) is putting "safety" and "security" at the centre of its message. As telecom security issues emerge as an industry-wide risk, it aims to turn them into competitiveness. Hong, who took office at the end of 2024, has shored up fundamentals over the past year or so by emphasising basic capabilities.

LG Uplus has recently unveiled a strategy to develop its accumulated voice AI capabilities, centred on its AI agent "ixi-O", into various fields such as physical AI. It also declared an evolution into an AI software company through a two-track approach of supplying the ixi-O service itself or providing an AI technology stack. Hong said, "We will become an AI-centred software company that leads the solutionisation of telecommunications and AX technologies." He added, "We will expand globally through technological competitiveness secured in areas adjacent to telecommunications and through global partnerships."

But despite its emphasis on security, gaps in managing subscriber information have emerged as a task to address. LG Uplus has used a method since 2011 of combining subscriber phone numbers when assigning the International Mobile Subscriber Identity. It does not immediately lead to hacking, but if combined with other information it could lead to a security threat. SK Telecom and KT randomise the IMSI, leaving no such concern. LG Uplus will replace USIM cards free of charge for all customers starting on April 13.

◆ Three different strategies... competition reshaped in the AI era

As the three carriers choose different solutions, the industry is seeing evaluations that competition based on "choices and focus" has begun in earnest. The CEOs' leadership is expected to face a full test. In particular, differences in the strategies each company is putting forward this year are likely to be closely tied to future performance. As the role of telecom operators expands beyond simple network providers to AI businesses, market leadership could hinge on which strategy earns a higher assessment in the market.

A telecom industry official said, "It seems clear that all (three CEOs) are refining their organisations in their own styles," and that this year's report card "could influence the competitive landscape over the next 2 to 3 years. The key will be who proves results faster."

Another official said, "Not only the business but organisational changes are also being carried out at the same time." The official added, "How they strike an investment balance between AI and telecommunications will determine the future business landscape."