South Korea's largest mobile operator, SK Telecom, has left an impression of seriousness and rigidity in the past. But the company is now taking steps to shed that image and play a more dynamic role as an investor in tech startups, much like Japan's SoftBank Group.

With a $5 billion acquisition budget over the next three years, the company is setting out to discover the next e-commerce company like Coupang, the South Korean e-commerce giant whose IPO led to record profit growth for SoftBank Group last quarter.
According to SK Telecom executives, about $2 billion of the $5 billion acquisition budget will come from proceeds from the company's planned IPOs of five subsidiaries.