Hollywood has long treated Asia as a market to sell finished films into. The Walt Disney Company has spent recent years turning the region into a place where its stories are also made, moving its studio into local-language content in Korea and Japan. The executive it has now chosen to run the region is the one who led that strategy, a promotion that reads as continuity rather than a change of direction.

Carol Choi, currently Executive Vice President of Disney Asia Pacific, will succeed Luke Kang as President, APAC, as Deadline first reported, after Kang decided to retire. Choi will lead Disney Entertainment’s portfolio across the region: studios, Disney+, local original content production, consumer products, media networks and content sales. Her remit covers Greater China, Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

Choi has spent 20 years at the company. As EVP she ran the region’s studios business, original content strategy and integrated marketing, and she previously served as Managing Director in Japan and Korea after senior roles in Greater China. When she handed the Japan post to Tamotsu Hiiro in 2025, the company credited her with establishing its Japanese original content plans and team, and with record-breaking hits in that market such as Inside Out 2, Deadpool & Wolverine, Moana 2 and Mufasa: The Lion King. The company says she also helped launch and grow Disney+ locally and built long-term collaborations with leading filmmakers and talent.

Alan Bergman, chairman of Disney Entertainment’s studios, and Jimmy Pitaro, chairman of ESPN, called Choi “a proven Disney leader with broad operating experience, strong creative instincts, and a deep understanding of the region.” The order of that praise matters for a job that now includes deciding which local stories get made. Choi framed the role in the same terms: “Asia Pacific is home to some of the world’s most passionate fans and dynamic creative communities.”

Kang, who retires after 16 years with the company, joined in 2011 as Managing Director of Korea and went on to run the Greater China and North Asia businesses. As APAC president he oversaw the launch of Disney+ across the region and the studio’s entry into local-language content in several markets, including Korea and Japan. “Together, we have strengthened our businesses, expanded the reach of Disney’s stories and brands,” he said, describing Choi as uniquely positioned to “lead APAC into its next phase of growth.”

Choi takes the job on December 1. The Japanese originals team she set up and the regional content strategy she led as EVP now answer to their own architect: Disney’s bet on making stories in Asia, rather than simply selling them there, will be run by the executive who drew it up.

Tags: Disney+, Disney, James Ashcroft, executive-move, Alan Bergman, Carol Choi