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| Kakao joint CEOs Yeo Min-soo, left, and Cho Soo-yong, were reappointed at the annual shareholders meeting held at the company headquarters in Jeju, Wednesday. Courtesy of Kakao |
By Kim Hyun-bin
Kakao, the operator of the country's top mobile messenger, has reappointed its Chairman Kim Beom-su and two co-CEOs Yeo Min-soo and Cho Soo-yong, during the general shareholders meeting at the company headquarters in Jeju, Wednesday. The three were reappointed as shareholders appreciated the continued corporate growth over the last three years under their management, according to analysts.
The executives' terms have been extended by two years and will be re-evaluated in 2022.
The reappointment of Cho and Yeo marks the company's first since Kakao merged with Daum, the country's second largest portal, in 2014.
"We are entering the path for the next decade, our mission is to reduce Kakao's daily inconveniences and bring about development and innovations," Kakao CEO Yeo Min-soo said. "We will consider the impact Kakao has on society and continue to take a role and expand efforts to resolve societal issues."
"Through personnel and advanced technology, Kakao will contribute to creating a better world and our crew will strongly contemplate ways to do so," Kakao CEO Cho Soo-yong said.
Kakao also switched out three out of four outside directors.
Six bills were passed including the year's financial statement, changes to the articles of association and setting executive wages.
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| Kakao Chairman Kim Beom-su |
Shareholders also approved the company's initiative to launch new projects as well as authorizing the company's plan to construct a new company building.
Since the joint CEOs were inaugurated in 2018, they were on the forefront in drastically enhancing business performance.
In 2017, Kakao's total sales were below 2 trillion won, but last year alone, its sales exceeded 3 trillion won and it generated a 200 billion won operating profit, a 25 percent increase compared to two years before.
The Kakao Talk Biz project was behind the company's success, which enables advertisements to be placed in the chat room section dubbed the "Talk Board," attracting 500 million won in sales daily. In addition, new business projects such as Kakao Mobility and easy payment systems saw substantial increased consumer use last year.
The two CEOs will focus on soft-landing the Techpin project as well as expanding the company's content based on its intellectual property rights.
The company added new projects to its articles of association involving a real estate leasing service, development and supply. Industry experts believe these changes were added to pave the way to construct a new company building. All of Kakao's affiliates' offices are located in Seoul metropolitan region and the company's headquarters is located in Jeju Island.
"The new project does not have a detailed plan at the moment, but it's part of a long-term effort to provide a community for Kakao and its affiliates," a Kakao official said.
Under the renewed joint leadership of Yeo and Cho, Kakao plans to enhance synergy among its community as well as enhance platform competitiveness, take social responsibility and create IT innovations, a company official said.
Kakao took precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 at the shareholders meeting, making it mandatory for every attendee to wear a mask.
