Other Variables Affecting KT Together with the rumor about M&A negotiations between KT and Daum, the local press reported that KT is now in talks with NTT DoCoMo, Japan's top mobile carrier, to sell its 20 percent stake in KTF. KT flatly rebuffed reports that the merger is aimed at garnering funds for KT to consolidate KTF after Nam takes the reins of KT in August. "The rumor is totally groundless. We have never made contact with NTT DoCoMo," KT spokesman Cho Chul-je said. Analysts say that the point is not whether KT would sell part of its 49.7-percent stake in KTF but whether mergers between the two companies will happen. "The bottom line is that KT's new chief executive Nam has a shot at leading the amalgamation between KT and KTF during his three-year stint with KT," Woori's Jung said. Another variable is the government since Information-Communication Minister Chin Dae-je said the ministry is willing to mull over buying back shares of KT, which was fully privatized in 2002, at a luncheon meeting with foreign reporters on June 22. The Ministry of Information and Communication denied the existence of any immediate plan to buy KT stock, saying the ministry is not considering a buyback. However, it was not the first time Chin has made remarks about the possibility of the government purchasing KT stocks. On June 15, Chin told a group of reporters at the ministry's head office in Seoul that the government could examine the possibility of a stock buyback to enhance the effectiveness of its telecom policy. He even insinuated that the government should not have sold all its shares in KT, the former state monopoly. "The government had to raise funds to turnaround the economy in the face of the 1997-1998 financial crisis. It might have been somewhat regrettable," he said. The government retained a 28.73-percent stake in KT in 2002 but then disposed of all the shares during the full privatization of the telecom titan. Experts say if the government purchases substantial amounts of KT shares, the firm would have to go through parliamentary approval to make major investments. This, they contend, would be disastrous for KT, which must make quick decisions to preempt the fast-paced development of the telecom industry.