KaKao

- Kakao launches global strategy starting with Kakao Piccoma.

- ‘Beyond Korea’ will be led by Chairman Kim Beom-soo, and ‘Beyond Mobile’ by the new CEO Namgoong Hoon.

 

[Mar 14, 2022] "'Beyond Korea’ is Kakao’s own mission to explore a new world called overseas markets beyond the starting point of Korea, and is a strong demand of the Korean society.” - Chairman Kim Beom-soo

 

Kakao is speeding up the reorganization of its global strategy to focus on its key keywords ‘Beyond Korea’ and ‘Beyond Mobile’. Under the major premise of ‘Beyond Korea’, the company plans to unfold its strategies using various methodologies.

 

First, Kakao will focus on expanding its territory globally, using Japan as a base. The KakaoGroup, which has been targeting overseas markets under individual strategies, is developing a strategy to maximize synergy, starting with Kakao Piccoma in Japan. Chairman Kim Beom-soo will focus on the task of ‘Beyond Korea’ and support global expansion.

 

Chairman Kim established Hangame Japan in 2000 and successfully pioneered the Japanese market. He has served as an executive director of Kakao Piccoma since 2017 and actively participated in the business by traveling between Korea and Japan. Based on the successful experiences and business know-how that built Kakao into what it is today, he plans to explore new business opportunities centered on Piccoma and focus on expanding Kakao's global markets.

 

Following this global strategy reshuffling, Chairman Kim will resign from Kakao's board of directors. He will maintain his role as the head of the Future Initiative Center and, as the founder of Kakao, will continue to present visions for the future growth of the entire KakaoGroup.

 

Kakao’s major affiliates are further strengthening their overseas market penetration in line with the direction of ‘Beyond Korea’. Kakao Entertainment, which is currently tackling North America, ASEAN, China and Europe using various platforms such as Kakao Webtoon, Tapas, Radish and Wuxiaworld, is speeding up its plan to triple its global transaction volume by 2024. In addition, it plans to secure production competitiveness across all platforms, including OTT, TV, and screen, and focus on planning and producing super IPs targeting the global market. Meanwhile, Kakao Games has successfully completed the pilot service of the mobile game Odin in Taiwan, which was a huge success in Korea, and is preparing for its official release this year. The company is also working on the global service of various new games.

 

Chairman Kim Beom-soo stressed in his message to all employees on the 14th, "'Beyond Korea’ is Kakao’s own mission to explore a new world called overseas markets beyond the starting point of Korea, and is a strong demand of the Korean society,” and “I hope that the KakaoGroup will have a wonderful new voyage together so that we can realize our dream of moving beyond global IT companies and becoming a great company.”

 

In addition, CEO-designate Namgoong-hoon, who is preparing for the advancement into new and unknown territories such as Metaverse with a focus on ‘Beyond Mobile’, will lead Kakao’s domestic and overseas growth by reorganizing Kakao’s various businesses and services into a structure that facilitates global expansion.

 

Kakao CEO-designate Namgung-hoon said, “50 million people use Korean-based smartphones, which is equivalent to 1% of the world’s 5 billion smartphone population,” and “Now Kakao must move from 1% to 99%. Kakao’s growth is just beginning,” expressing his strong commitment to global expansion.

 

Furthermore, Kakao held a temporary board meeting on the 14th and appointed Hong Eun-taek, head of the Kakao Alignment Center, as a new internal director. Accordingly, Center Directors Kim Sung-soo and Hong Eun-taek will coordinate the social responsibility and strategic direction of the KakaoGroup from a sustainable growth perspective, and support Kakao’s ‘Beyond Korea’ and ‘Beyond Mobile’ initiatives.

 

Meanwhile, the reorganization of Kakao's board of directors will be confirmed through a general shareholders' meeting on Mar 29.