Kim Young-tae, former secretary for foreign cooperation at the presidential office, who resigned following taking responsibility for a clash between MBC reporter and the presidential office at President Yoon Seok-yeol’s door stepping in November last year, took office as the CEO of Korail Distribution on the 3rd. Korail Distribution is a Korail subsidiary that operates ‘Storyway’ convenience stores and various commercial facilities at train stations nationwide and in the metropolitan area.
New CEO Kim Young-tae said in his inaugural address that day, “Let’s leap forward as a company that leads the new future of mobility services.” .
“We need to read our customers and the market well and increase our ability to execute to create new value,” said CEO Kim.
CEO Kim, who graduated from the Department of Economics at Seoul National University, served as a reporter for Maeil Business and Gyeongin Broadcasting, executive directors of Hanssem and Hite Jinro, and vice president of Coupang. With the inauguration of the Yoon Seok-yeol government last year, he served as the first head of the Presidential Office for Public Communication and secretary for foreign cooperation.
Representative Kim resigned following taking responsibility for the incident in which MBC reporter Lee Ki-joo and YTN reporter Lee Ki-jeong, former YTN reporter, collided following a question-and-answer session with President Yoon on his way to work.
When President Yoon stated in November of last year that MBC reporters were excluded from boarding a private plane for overseas tours, he said, “It was because (MBC) showed malicious behavior to alienate the alliance (with the United States) with fake news that was different from the facts.” Reporter Lee Ki-joo asked, “What did MBC do maliciously?”, and public relations planning secretary Lee Gi-jeong said, “It’s not polite to talk like that to a person going.”
Korail Distribution also had a ‘parachute controversy’ in the last administration. After the inauguration of President Moon Jae-in, President Moon Jae-in’s fan cafe ‘Moon Fan’, the cafe manager was appointed as a non-executive director of Korail Distribution, causing controversy. Since CEO Kim is also an aide to President Yoon, criticism for taking care of his aides is inevitable. During the presidential election, President Yoon said, “Are you ordering someone who worked at the camp? I don’t do that,” he said, expressing his disapproval of the parachute greeting.
