Seoul, Dec 12 Google Korea said on Friday it has appointed Yoon Koo, also known as Brandon Yoon, as its new head.
Yoon will serve as country managing director starting Jan. 5 and will oversee the company's advertising sales operations, according to Google Korea, reports Yonhap news agency.
He is widely regarded as an industry veteran with more than 20 years of experience in the Korean and US information technology (IT) and digital transformation sectors, having held leadership roles at Microsoft Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple Korea.
"We expect Yoon's extensive experience and leadership to help accelerate Google Korea's future growth momentum," Google Korea said.
Yoon said he would work to expand Google's artificial intelligence (AI) presence in Korea, which he described as one of the world's most dynamic and innovative markets.
"My mission is clear: to ensure Google is a true partner in Korea's success," he wrote in a LinkedIn post.
"We will aggressively leverage the momentum of Gemini and AI to democratize growth, foster innovation, and empower our strategic customers spanning global conglomerates, small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) and start-ups to achieve their greatest ambitions."
Meanwhile, Google will launch a cheaper version of its YouTube Premium subscription without its music streaming component in South Korea, the country's antitrust watchdog said Thursday, following months of investigation into alleged anti-competitive practices.
The move is part of a self-proposed corrective measure agreed upon by the U.S. tech giant and the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), which has been probing the company over suspicions that bundling YouTube Music with YouTube Premium violated fair trade rules.
Under the decision, Google will introduce YouTube Premium Lite, a video-only subscription that includes advertisement removal, background playback and offline viewing services, the FTC said. Existing YouTube Premium and YouTube Music Premium subscriptions will continue to be available.
YouTube Premium Lite is expected to be priced at 8,500 won ($5.80) per month for Android and web users and 10,900 won per month for iOS users, the FTC said. YouTube Premium currently costs 14,900 won, while YouTube Music is offered separately for 11,990 won per month.
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