Ex Tech CEO becomes South Koreas new PM

South Korea’s parliament, the National Assembly, has confirmed former Naver CEO Han Seong-sook as the country’s new prime minister. She will be the second woman to hold the position in South Korea, after Han Myeong-sook, who served from 2006 to 2007.

Han Seong-sook, 59, was nominated by President Lee Jae-myung after his Democratic Party dominated June’s local elections. She had previously served as minister for small businesses and startups.

Han Seong-sook began her career as a technology journalist, then joined a search startup, and later rose through Naver‘s senior ranks. She was the first non-engineer CEO of a major South Korean technology company and, at the time, the only woman outside the chaebol families to lead a top-100 firm.

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During her five-year stint at Naver, Han Seong-sook pushed the company beyond search into shopping, payments, and content generation, cementing its position as the country’s top internet group. She gave up the top-floor suite for a mid-level office to be closer to staff.

According to Hannes Mosler, chair of East Asian Social Sciences at the University of Duisburg-Essen, the nomination of Han Seong-sook signals to markets that a former CEO, rather than a career politician, is being installed to drive President Lee‘s growth agenda. The promise is continuity in the semiconductor export boom and a pledge to recycle those gains into a sturdier social safety net.

Mosler notes that Han Seong-sook‘s nomination remains clouded by suspicion, including multiple-home ownership and a data breach in her own ministry’s startup program. Her ability to deliver depends on whether President Lee genuinely lets a technocrat drive industrial policy or keeps her as the public face.

She will face the challenge of driving South Korea’s growth agenda. Her background as a technologist and business leader will shape her approach to policy-making.

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In the coming months, Han Seong-sook will need to work closely with President Lee and other government officials to develop and implement policies that support the growth of South Korea’s AI sector.

For now, Han Seong-sook‘s appointment as prime minister is seen as a positive step. The country continues to evolve and grow.

They will play a key role in shaping its technological future.