Kakao AI拟定首批外部董事阵容，为2027年分拆上市做治理准备

The initial lineup of outside directors for Kakao AI, which is scheduled to launch next year, is taking shape.
According to industry sources on Aug. 25, former Minister of Science and ICT Lim Hye-sook, former National Tax Service (NTS) Commissioner Kim Dae-ji, former KT Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Oh Seung-pil and Korea University Graduate School of Management of Technology professor Kim Young-jun are expected to serve as outside directors of Kakao AI. The lineup brings together expertise in government policy and regulation, finance and taxation, and technology management, as well as technology.
Lim served as a professor of electronics and electrical engineering at Ewha Womans University and chairperson of the National Research Council of Science & Technology before serving as minister of science and ICT from 2021 to 2022. She previously worked at Bell Labs in the US and Cisco Systems.
Oh worked at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Ames Research Center, Microsoft and Yahoo before heading Hyundai Card’s digital division. He served as KT’s CTO from 2023 until March this year.
Former NTS Commissioner Kim is another notable candidate. He served as commissioner of the Busan Regional Tax Office and as the 24th commissioner of the NTS, and currently serves as an adviser at BnH Tax Firm. His appointment is seen as strengthening the board’s expertise in taxation, finance and internal controls.
Professor Kim earned a doctorate in economics from George Washington University and completed a master’s program in finance at Harvard University. He currently teaches at Korea University’s Graduate School of Management of Technology. Kim was newly appointed as an outside director and audit committee member at Kakao in March this year and currently serves as chair of the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Committee, as well as a member of the Audit Committee and Director Candidate Recommendation Committee.
Kakao outlined its plans for the composition of Kakao AI’s board in a corporate value enhancement plan released on Aug. 21. The company said the board would comprise experts in artificial intelligence (AI) and information technology (IT), products and services, technology management, information and communications technology (ICT) and science and technology policy, and finance. The proposed board reflects that approach, including former KT CTO Oh and Altos Ventures venture partner Shin Jung-hwan in technology, former minister Lim in policy, and former NTS Commissioner Kim and professor Kim in taxation, finance and technology management.
About four months remain before Kakao AI’s launch, but the proposed board lineup has already been prepared. As Kakao AI will launch as a listed operating company immediately after the split, the move appears aimed at establishing decision-making and internal control systems spanning technology, policy and finance from the outset.
The proposed directors, however, have not yet been finalized. Kakao plans to proceed with the split following an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting on Dec. 17 and complete the separation into Kakao AI and Kakao X on Jan. 1, 2027.