The Kakao labor union announced that it will conduct a picketing protest in front of the Kakao and Kakao Games shareholders' meeting scheduled for the 26th. They also announced their opposition to the Kakao Group's plan to spin off the content corporate independent company (CIC) and the sale of Kakao VX, stating that if the wage negotiations and collective agreement (labor management negotiations) are ultimately unsuccessful, they will go on a general strike next month.
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions' Kakao branch (Crew Union) warned on the 24th that it will conduct picketing in front of the Kakao shareholders' meeting and the Kakao Games shareholders' meeting, which are set to be held on the morning of the 26th at Space Dot One (Kakao headquarters) in Jeju and at the Kakao AI Campus in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, respectively. The Kakao union opposes the company's plan to spin off the content CIC, which operates the portal 'Daum.' They expressed that their lives are threatened as the company unilaterally communicated the spin-off plan without any prior discussion within the organization.
The union stated, 'The upcoming spin-off is not simply limited to the 300 members of the Kakao corporate content CIC, but also directly affects 200 people from K&Works, about 120 search personnel from Kakao Enterprise, and 40 from DK Technology, as well as 70 members of the Jeju community,' demanding an immediate withdrawal of the spin-off.
The union has entered a hunger strike inside the Kakao Pangyo Agit in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. They also noted that if there is no progress in negotiations by 3 p.m. on the 25th, the day before the Kakao regular shareholders' meeting, they will declare an all-out breakdown.
The union said, 'Despite the accomplishments of Kakao community employees, we declare a breakdown in negotiations that refuse unilateral notification of performance bonuses and propose low reward levels, without considering members' working conditions and the sluggish collective agreement process.' They added that they are scheduled to conduct a total strike in April after an immediate mediation request and a vote on the strike.
At the same time, picketing against the sale of Kakao VX will be held in front of the Kakao Games shareholders' meeting, which is scheduled to be held at the Kakao AI Campus. Kakao Games officially announced its plan to sell its subsidiary Kakao VX within this year through the disclosure of its 2024 business report on the 18th. They are currently going through the process of obtaining approval from minority shareholders.
The Kakao union released a statement criticizing former Kakao Mobility CEO Jeong Joo-hwan's exercise of stock options regarding the stocks of Kakao Mobility approaching expiration. According to sources in the IT industry, it is reported that the former CEO exercised options for Kakao Mobility shares. The estimated scale is around 9.5 billion won.