South Korea names first female PM in decades to lead AI push

[SEOUL] South Korean President Lee Jae Myung is placing his hopes on former Naver Corp chief executive Han Seong Sook to help better utilise the nation’s tech expertise for future growth and ensure its benefits spread more widely through the economy. 

Han will become the country’s second female premier, assuming her appointment is approved by the national assembly, elevating a former technology executive to one of the nation’s highest political posts. 

The tapping of Han underscores Lee’s commitment to shoring up future growth of the domestic economy and the need to leverage a wider range of industries.

During her five years at the helm of Naver, a company sometimes called the Google of Korea, Han helped broaden its revenue streams beyond its search engine model to also draw on e-commerce, fintech and content generation. 

The 58-year-old minister for small businesses and startups began her career as a technology journalist, before taking on roles at a startup search site and then the senior positions at Naver. She embarked on her political career after leaving the company in 2024.

Han would become the first woman to hold the post since former prime minister Han Myeong Sook served under then-president Roh Moon Hyun nearly two decades ago.

Her appointment would again demonstrate that women can reach the highest echelons of the political realm in the nation even if their wider representation in positions of power still lags other developed nations. Park Geun Hye served as the country’s first female president between 2013 and 2017.

The presidential Blue House said Han’s experience leading a major technology company and serving in government makes her well suited to oversee what it described as a national transition centered on artificial intelligence and digital innovation.

Lee underlined the need to find a wider range of growth engines in a speech on Monday (Jun 8) marking his first year in power.

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Han would take over from political veteran Kim Min Seok, who has helped ensure stability in Lee’s first year in office and now looks set to take the reins of the ruling party. That also makes the appointment a symbolic switch from political fixer to technocrat.

Han presided over a period of mostly rapid growth at Naver. The company’s share price peaked during her tenure, right around the time the pandemic drove users around the world toward internet services.

Along with Kakao Corp, the company is today considered an online pioneer and one of the country’s most prominent internet companies.

Still, Han’s stint at Naver was not without controversy. During her time as chief executive reports of bullying and excessive workloads emerged, following the suicide of a Naver employee in 2021. Han launched an internal investigation following the death.

One of the pressing issues Han will need to help address as premier is the perceived unfairness of massive bonuses received by some workers in the chip sector. The issue has crystallised concerns that growth is too focused on a narrow segment of the economy with the benefits not extending to the wider public.

The ruling Democratic Party welcomed the nomination, saying Han would help expand the benefits of a semiconductor- and export-led boom to small businesses and local merchants, while advancing the government’s AI agenda. BLOOMBERG