KaKao

- Kakao appoints an outside director as chairperson to strengthen the independence and transparency of the board of directors

- Yoon is the first non-Kakao employee to hold the position in the history of Kakao

 

[March 20, 2023] Kakao (CEO, Hong Euntaek) held its annual board of directors meeting on March 30 and announced that Yoon Seok, and outside director, was appointed as Kakao’s new chairperson of the board of directors.

 

Chairperson Yoon, who became Kakao’s outside director in 2020, is a professor of Business Administration at Sookmyung Women’s University. He is a financial expert who previously held positions as a managing director at Credit Suisse and Samsung Securities, as well as CIO of Samsung Asset Management and CEO of Samsung Active Asset Management. Yoon Seok used his expertise in overall economic policies and wealth of experience in the financial industry to strengthen the diversity of the board of directors, represent the interests of shareholders and society, and contribute to board meetings when making decisions on agendas that influence the company’s long-term growth and maximize the corporate value.

 

Yoon is the first outside director in Kakao’s history to be appointed as the chairperson of the board of directors. Until now, Kakao had made efforts to improve transparency in management by comprising more than half of all directors with outside directors and appointing outside directors as chairpersons of four expert committees (Audit Committee, Directors Nomination Committee, Compensation Committee and ESG Committee) within the board of directors. Yoon’s appointment as chairperson is expected to enhance the independence and transparency of the board of directors.

 

With the passing of the director appointment agenda in the Annual General Meeting for Shareholders, which was held on March 28, Kakao’s board of directors now has seven directors: two inside directors, one other non-executive director and four outside directors. (Four out of the seven are women) The board of directors consists of Hong Euntaek, CEO of Kakao, and Bae Jae-hyun, General of Investment at Kakao Corporation Alignment Council, as inside directors, Chung Shina, CEO of Kakao Ventures, as the other non-executive director, and Yoon Seok, professor of Business Administration at Sookmyung Women’s University, Choi Se-jung, professor at the School of Media and Communications at Korea University, Shin Sun-kyung, partner at LIWU Law Group and Park Sae-rom, assistant professor of the Department of Industrial Engineering at UNIST, as outside directors.

 

Kakao will reinforce the board of director’s expertise, independence, and diversity to discover new growth engines during this persisting uncertain market environment and strengthen Kakao’s global business to make Kakao’s vision of “Beyond Korea, Beyond Mobile” a reality. (End)