Naver Z Launches Full Strike... "Withdraw Wage Freeze"

Workers at Naver Z, a subsidiary of Naver and the operator of the metaverse platform Zepeto, went on a full-day strike today (September 23) in protest against management's unilateral wage freeze and lack of communication.

The Naver branch of the Korean Chemical, Food and Agro-Workers Union (known as Compsup), affiliated with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, announced that around 120 union members—accounting for about 70% of Naver Z's workforce—participated in the full-scale strike.

Earlier in the day, the Naver union held a picket protest in front of the Green Factory, Naver's headquarters in Bundang-gu, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province.

Inside the building, Naver Z's office space on the 12th and 13th floors was decorated with purple balloons and picket signs bearing slogans such as "Kim Chang-wook, answer for the directionless Zepeto" and "Naver, take responsibility."

The union previously staged a four-hour partial strike on September 9, demanding a wage increase (5.3%), the withdrawal of the unilateral salary freeze, and explanations regarding the company's business situation.

The union explained that it escalated its industrial action to a full strike after management failed to release any particular stance and refused to engage in dialogue over the past two weeks.

During an online rally broadcast live on YouTube this morning, union members strongly criticized management, claiming that the company is shifting the blame for its management failures onto employees through wage freezes.

Oh Se-yoon, head of the Naver union branch, said during a live speech, "Across Naver and all its affiliates, annual salaries were frozen only once back in 2009 during the global financial crisis, and even then, executive pay was drastically increased by 71%, shifting the burden of the crisis solely onto employees."

The union particularly criticized Kim Chang-wook, who concurrently serves as CEO of four Naver affiliates, including Naver Z, Snow, Kream, and Cake.

Among the four companies led by CEO Kim, employee salaries at Naver Z and Cake have been frozen.

The union claimed that since taking sole charge of the Zepeto service, CEO Kim has avoided communication, holding company-wide town hall meetings only twice (in April 2024 and February 2025).

"A culture where authority is held without taking responsibility is repeating itself at Naver," branch head Oh pointed out. "They do not share authority in normal times, but when the company runs into trouble, they pass the causes and responsibilities onto the members."

Oh reiterated his call for the withdrawal of the salary freeze and an open-ended debate with CEO Kim, and warned that if management continues to remain unresponsive after the Chuseok holiday, the union will send a public questionnaire to CEO Kim and Lee Hae-jin, Naver's Global Investment Officer (GIO), regarding the causes of the business downturn and the wage freeze.

The union plans to further intensify its collective action if management maintains its silence following this full strike, warning of a consecutive five-day strike starting on October 19.

(Photo: Captured from YouTube live broadcast, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.