이 기사는 2021년 06월 29일 07시50분 thebell에 표출된 기사입니다

Choi In-hyuk, Naver’s Chief Operating Officer, is set to step down from the position and other roles held at the company after the suicide of the internet giant’s employee who is understood to have suffered from workplace bullying. But he will likely stay in leadership roles at the company’s affiliates as there is no one in the company who can replace him.

Naver Corp announced on Friday that Choi resigned as COO and other roles within the head office. Choi, who is considered the number two in the company, holds several roles including operation head and advertising head. He is also serving as a director of the company’s board and chairs the creative financial committee and the risk management committee.

However, Choi is likely to retain his dozen roles at Naver affiliates. He is chief executive of the company’s payment services arm Naver Financial, and serves as a non-executive director of Naver I&S and Naver Labs.

Choi also leads Naver’s Japanese affiliate Line and its advertising business, and serves as chief executive of Naver’s online donation platform Happy Bean.

Choi’s resignation is not the outcome of the company’s disciplinary procedure but his personal decision to take the responsibility of the recent personnel incident. Naver said that the workplace bullying happened in the head office and its board of directors can only accept Choi’s resignation from the roles at the head office, adding that his roles at the company’s affiliates should be discussed by their own boards of directors.

Observers said that Choi is unlikely to step down from his leadership roles outside the parent company, especially at Naver Financial which is one of the key affiliates of the internet giant.

“Choi is the key man at Naver Financial, leading the business even before it was separated from Naver in 2019. There is no one who can replace him right now, especially as the company is ramping up the MyData business,” said an industry insider. “The opinion of Mirae Asset Group, which is the second largest shareholder of Naver Financial, also matters.”

Choi previously worked with Naver’s founder and Global Investment Officer Lee Hae-jin at Samsung SDS and has been with the company from the start. His resignation from key roles will be a major loss of leadership for the company, industry watchers said. (Reporting by Choong-hee Won)