Kakao Stages First-Ever Strike; Will Services Halt on 'Log-off' Day on June 29?

[Anchor]

The Kakao labor union has launched a partial strike for the first time since the company's founding. While there were no disruptions to major services such as KakaoTalk or Kakao Pay, the union has announced plans for an additional strike on June 29.

Reporter Choi Seung-hoon has the story.

[Reporter]

Kakao union members, dressed in black t-shirts, gathered at Pangyo Station Square to chant slogans.

[Management must step down! Step down! Struggle!]

The labor unions of five entities, including Kakao's headquarters and Kakao Pay, held a strike for the first time since the company was founded in 2006.

The partial strike lasted for four hours, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., excluding lunch hours.

The union stated that approximately 1,500 employees across all entities, including about 1,000 from the headquarters, participated in the strike.

The core issue of the labor-management conflict is the performance-based compensation structure.

The union has been demanding a performance bonus of approximately 10 million won, along with an additional 5 million won in Restricted Stock Units (RSU).

On the other hand, it is reported that the company proposed a plan to include the RSU within the 10 million won bonus, citing significant management burdens.

Because this was a partial strike and most service operations are automated, there were no disruptions to major services such as KakaoTalk and Kakao Pay.

The union has announced a second strike for June 29.

[Seo Seung-wook / Head of Kakao Labor Union: We are preparing for a 'Log-off Day' on June 29. It will involve logging off or signing out from the various work tools we currently use.]

The union plans to increase the number of participants by having members use their annual leave or days off to step away from their duties.

The company stated that it is continuing dialogue with the union while operating a real-time response system to ensure stable service operations.

While both sides agree on the need to maintain essential personnel, meaning there are no immediate major issues, concerns remain that if the conflict prolongs and leads to a full-scale strike, it could cause setbacks in service updates or responses to unexpected situations.

(Video reporting: Kim Hak-mo | Video editing: Park Ji-in | Design: Kang Yoon-jung)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.