| Kakao CEOs Namkoong Whon, left, and Hong Eun-taek / Courtesy of Kakao |
By Kim Jae-heun
Kakao established a two-CEO structure to strengthen its social responsibility and enhance corporate value, according to the company, Thursday.
The company held a board meeting on July 14 in which Hong Eun-taek, co-head of the company's Corporate Alignment Center (CAC), was appointed as co-CEO to lead the company alongside CEO Namkoong Whon.
Hong will continue to head the CAC and Kakao Impact Foundation as its director. “We have appointed Hong as co-CEO with an aim to achieve both goals of strengthening Kakao's corporate social responsibility and enhancing its value,” a Kakao official said.
Hong will be tasked to further strengthen the company's environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) management ― which he was already in charge of at the CAC, and oversee sustainable growth strategies.
Namkoong plans to focus on increasing corporate value by leading the company's global expansion by continuing to lead Kakao's services and businesses.
“The two CEOs will carry on with their previous tasks and not much has changed in respect to business operation and management, but the new appointment aims to give Hong more authority to utilize Kakao services when operating the CAC department to be able to create more synergy quickly,” a Kakao official said.
In April, Kakao unveiled its plan to place a total of 300 billion won ($229 million) in a win-win fund for the next five years to seek sustainable growth with its partners such as small business owners, creators and platform workers. The company is also pushing for various projects to help traditional market merchants to shift their business online while solving the inventory problems of their agricultural and fishery products.
Furthermore, Kakao has appointed its first digital accessibility officer to beef up its digital accessibility as part of its ESG management efforts. It also declared its “Active Green Initiative” to play an active role in solving environmental issues while working towards achieving zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.
“I will find ways to contribute to society by using our technologies and services based on the company's innovation and value. Also, I will strive to make Kakao a company that is recognized as necessary in our community and continue to seek business growth,” Hong said.
Hong joined Kakao as vice president of Kakao Content Service in 2012 and successfully launched Kakao Page and Kakao Makers. In 2018 he became CEO of Kakao Commerce where he stayed for three years, growing the company's volume of business by more than four times during the period. Early this year, Hong took the position at CAC and became the company's executive director.