In the first half of this year, the heads of Korea's two major information technology (IT) platforms received the following pay: Naver chief Choi Soo-yeon received 2.967 billion won, and Kakao leader Chung Shin-a received 1.209 billion won.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on the 14th, Choi's first-half compensation was tallied at 2.967 billion won, up 14.2% (about 417 million won) from the same period a year earlier (2.55 billion won). By detail, it consisted of salary of 550 million won, bonus of 1.43 billion won, stock-based compensation (RSU) of 655 million won (3,250 shares), and other earned income of 32 million won.
Naver said, "We achieved 100% of our key performance indicator targets, including 12 trillion won in operating revenue and 2.2 trillion won in operating profit for 2025," and added, "We proactively executed on-service AI to build a virtuous cycle in which AI translates into business performance, and we expanded our global foundation and strategic investments in future core areas." It continued, "We comprehensively considered contributions to overall sales growth through companywide synergy by reorganizing the organizational structure and talent operation system."
Founder Lee Hae-jin, Naver's chair, received 1.598 billion won in the first half, the same amount as a year earlier. The compensation consisted of salary of 770 million won, bonus of 728 million won, and other earned income of 6 million won. The company said, "We comprehensively considered the role performed in presenting long-term direction, advancing the governance framework, and financial performance as founder and chair of the board."
Chung Shin-a, Kakao's chief executive, received 1.209 billion won in the first half, up 29.6% from the same period a year earlier (933 million won). Chung's compensation consisted of salary of 500 million won, bonus of 706 million won, and other earned income of 3 million won.
Kakao said it paid the base salary in equal installments according to the value of the duties performed and individual capabilities, and set the bonus at 176% of the standard annual salary. The company said, "We achieved performance indicators such as the average daily number of active chat rooms on KakaoTalk directly linked to advertising revenue, the trend in the number of advertisers by budget segment, and the total number of 'Gift' purchases, as well as ESG management indicators related to climate change response, digital accessibility, coexistence, tech ethics, risk management, and service stability." It added, "While driving new AI businesses to secure future growth engines, strengthening the competitiveness of key services, reinforcing sustainable management based on tech ethics and ESG, overhauling group governance and securing management stability, and playing a central role in group-level crisis response and setting long-term business direction, we considered the contributions made as CEO and co-chair of the CA Council."
Hong Min-taek, former Kakao chief product officer (CPO), received aggregates of 2.816 billion won in the first half as total compensation. The compensation consisted of salary of 314 million won, bonus of 628 million won, retirement income of 318 million won, and other earned income of 1.556 billion won. The growth of the KakaoTalk business and achievements in product and service strategy development were reflected. Other earned income included welfare benefits and amounts exceeding the executive retirement income limit under the Income Tax Act. Hong led the KakaoTalk overhaul but, after internal leadership controversy, his resignation was finalized on May 31.