en.Wedoany.com Reported - KT Corp. announced on the 6th that it will invest approximately 12 trillion won in information security, IT, and network sectors over the next three years, unveiling a new strategy to transform into an "Artificial Intelligence Transformation (AX) Platform Company" to strengthen its growth foundation and reshape the trust structure of communication networks.

As a national backbone network operator, telecommunications companies are responsible for connecting tens of millions of users. Once a security breach occurs, the impact extends beyond individuals to affect finance, public services, and industrial sectors. In response to recent consecutive hacking attacks and information leaks at three mobile carriers, industry experts widely believe that the trust structure of communication networks needs to be redesigned.

KT CEO Park Yoon-young held his first press conference since taking office on the morning of the 6th at the Pullman Ambassador Hotel in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, unveiling a strategy centered on two pillars: "solid fundamentals" and "sure growth." The goal is to support the growth of public, industrial, and individual sectors through AI Transformation (AX) while being responsible for connecting South Korea's present and future. Park disclosed a new growth vision compiled after inspecting sites nationwide within 100 days of taking office, covering the revitalization of core communication competencies such as information security and network infrastructure, communication at on-site customer touchpoints including sales, customer service centers, activation, and after-sales service, as well as preparations and plans in areas such as submarine cables, AX, and R&D.

KT plans to invest approximately 12 trillion won over three years to strengthen information security, IT, and network fundamentals. The core initiative is building a "Zero Trust" security system, which operates on the principle of "trust nothing, verify constantly," replacing the previous approach of unconditionally trusting internal networks by continuously confirming the identity of connectors, machines, and permissions to minimize the possibility of intrusion. KT will invest 4 trillion won in information security, triple the amount from the previous three years, including building daily prevention and response systems based on zero-trust security, promoting cloud-native transformation, integrating dispersed security operations and governance, and doubling the information security workforce.

In the network sector, KT will invest 8 trillion won. In satellite communications, as the only operator in South Korea that directly controls and operates multiple satellites in geostationary orbit (GEO) and low Earth orbit (LEO), KT plans to secure communication sovereignty and provide uninterrupted communication networks during disasters and security incidents. KT also plans to invest approximately 5 trillion won to build additional AI data centers (AIDC) with a total capacity of 1 gigawatt (GW) based on actual demand, providing ultra-low-latency real-time inference environments nationwide. Additionally, the CEO stated that demand for global submarine cable traffic connected to AIDC is expected to grow significantly, and KT plans to invest 1 trillion won to increase supply capacity by over 90 Tbps (terabytes per second). By expanding infrastructure, KT aims to attract global big tech companies to invest in AIDC in South Korea and position itself as an "Asia AX Connection Hub" that channels global traffic into the country.

KT has selected "token factories" and "stablecoins" as new growth drivers, planning to leverage its own capabilities and assets to develop AX businesses. Goldman Sachs research predicts that global token consumption will grow from 5 quintillion per month to 120 quintillion per month over the next four years, a 24-fold increase. Park stated that in the AI era, the way money is exchanged may shift to a pay-per-use model, and the billing model that telecommunications companies excel at is a reasonable approach to handling token-based charges. KT plans to establish a business model that supports token generation, intermediation, and billing in connection with AI.

Park emphasized that in the AX era, where the scope of connected objects expands with a human-centered, AI-driven approach, KT's fundamental role of being responsible for South Korea's connectivity remains unchanged. The company will further solidify the essence of the telecommunications industry, achieve tangible growth on this foundation, and help elevate South Korea into an AX powerhouse.