Naver, which has gained attention as a “DeepSeek beneficiary,” has seen its stock rise following the news that founder Lee Hae-jin will return as board chairman after seven years.
On Wednesday at 9:50 AM, Naver’s stock traded at $160, up 5.26% from the previous trading day, marking a new 52-week high.
According to industry sources, Naver’s board of directors plans to vote on Lee Hae-jin’s return as an inside director at the upcoming shareholders’ meeting this Friday, just before the earnings announcement.
Since stepping down as chairman in 2017, Lee has primarily focused on global business. Analysts predict that if he returns to the chairman position, he will take a bold step in key business areas, including artificial intelligence (AI).
Previously, Naver’s stock price had been rising steadily, drawing attention as a beneficiary of DeepSeek. This surge is attributed to the low-cost, high-efficiency AI inference model “R1” developed by the Chinese AI startup DeepSeek. The model is based on open-source technology and has publicly available source code. Consequently, Korean internet companies like Naver and Kakao, which are developing AI technologies, are expected to narrow the gap with foreign companies thanks to open-source advancements.