Major Corporate Shifts and Tech Developments Shape the Business Landscape

South Korea's major corporate sectors are experiencing notable structural changes, alongside recent financial promotions and technological advancements involving prominent firms. A recent study by corporate analysis firm Leaders Index analyzed representatives across 283 companies in the 30 largest business groups from 2024 to 2026. The findings reveal a significant shift in the career backgrounds of chief executive officers, moving away from corporate planning toward operational and field experience.

During the two-year period, CEOs with backgrounds in management planning dropped sharply from 48.1% in 2024 to 26.0% this year. Conversely, leaders with production and manufacturing backgrounds grew from 15.0% to 25.4%, nearly closing the gap with planning executives. Groups such as Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor, LG, and HD Hyundai all recorded substantial declines in planning-oriented leadership while increasing manufacturing-focused appointments.

In contrast to the broader manufacturing trend, the telecommunications and retail sectors demonstrated different patterns. Within the KT Group, which includes 11 corporate CEOs, executives with planning backgrounds completely disappeared this year, replaced primarily by leaders with production, technical infrastructure, marketing, and sales backgrounds. Average CEO tenure across the evaluated groups stood at 3.8 years, with KT recording a relatively brief average tenure of 1.4 years.

In the technology sector, artificial intelligence infrastructure management and operations software firm Lablup officially made its debut on the Kosdaq market. The company successfully completed its initial public offering for retail investors, securing a final public offering price of 19,000 won. Founded in 2015, Lablup specializes in resource management software for graphics processing units and neural processing units.

Lablup provides its platform to various prominent institutions and corporations, including Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Mobis, KT, Shinhan Bank, and Samsung Medical Center. The newly acquired capital from the public offering will be used to establish validation infrastructure for diverse AI accelerators, expand research and development, and scale global business operations into North America and Asia, according to CEO Jung Jung-gyu.

Meanwhile, financial institutions are implementing short-term customer promotions. Samsung Securities announced a special event offering a cash reward of 10,000 won to customers who make a net deposit of 10 million won or more into its cash management account issuing-bill format. The promotion targets customers managing short-term surplus funds, providing a pre-tax annualized yield of 2.6% for funds left for a single day, though officials noted that issuing-bill accounts are not protected by depositor protection laws.

Additionally, urban air mobility initiatives are progressing as regional authorities work toward commercialization. The Incheon Metropolitan City government submitted a preliminary application to designate urban air mobility demonstration zones, prioritizing routes connecting Yeongjong Island to Deokjeok Island. A successful test flight was previously conducted on this route utilizing aircraft simulating urban air mobility operations, backed by a collaborative team comprising Incheon International Airport Corporation, Korean Air, KT, Hyundai Motor, and Hyundai Engineering & Construction.