Co-CEO of SKorean chat app steps down over service outage
A top executive of South Korea’s largest mobile chat app, Kakao, has resigned over a widespread service outage that triggered an outpouring of complaints in a country that is heavily reliant on such technology
Co-CEO of SKorean chat app steps down over service outage
Show all 2Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A top executive of South Korea’s largest mobile chat app, Kakao, stepped down on Wednesday over a widespread service outage that triggered an outpouring of complaints in a country that is heavily reliant on such technology.
Namkoong Whon, who became Kakao’s co-CEO in March, said he will resign to focus on his role as the leader of the company’s emergency task force for solving the technical problems exposed by the outage, which was caused by a fire at a data center near Seoul on Saturday.
The fire initially paralyzed most of Kakao’s services, causing huge disruption in a country where millions of people rely on the apps to chat with friends, wire money, and hail taxis. Critics say the severity of the outage and Kakao’s slow recovery efforts highlighted the company’s poor backup systems and its overreliance on outsourced servers.
Kakao said most of its services were operating normally as of Wednesday morning. SK C&C, which hosts Kakao’s servers at its data center in Pangyo, reportedly resumed providing full levels of electricity to those servers earlier on Wednesday after restoring the damaged systems.
“Because of the data center fire, I feel more miserable than ever and take to heart my grave responsibility. I will step down to demonstrate Kakao’s willingness for renovation and change,” Namkoong said in a news conference. Hong Eun-taek is now the company's sole CEO.
According to market analysis firm WiseApp, Kakao’s free chat app had around 45 million active users as of April, a huge presence in a country with a population of around 51 million. The company has used the popularity of the app to branch out to banking, online shopping and Uber-like taxi services in recent years. Its app also has been part of the country's COVID-19 response, including reservations for vaccines and use of QR codes for infection tracing.
Kakao's chat users had dropped to around 39 million during the outage in the weekend people began using other alternatives such as Facebook’s Messenger, Telegram and Naver’s Line, WiseApp said.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said Kakao’s service outage also exposed the problems of its dominant market presence and added that the country’s antitrust watchdog was examining competition issues.
“If a market becomes distorted by a monopoly or a severe oligopoly, especially to the extent where the (services) begin to function like a national infrastructure, the government should of course respond with necessary measures to protect the interests of people,” Yoon said Monday.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.