Kakao forms emergency management system following founder’s arrest

Kakao Corp., the operator of South Korea's dominant mobile messenger, said Thursday it has decided to form an emergency management system to address the vacancy left by its founder, Kim Beom-su, following his recent arrest. Under the new system, CEO Chung Shin-a will serve as the acting chief of the management reform committee under Kakao's corporate alignment council, which comprises representatives from 13 affiliates of the company, according to company officials. The decision was made during a Kakao Group meeting held earlier Thursday, just two days after Kim was arrested on stock manipulation allegations. Kim is suspected of being involved in manipulating the stock price of K-pop powerhouse SM Entertainment during a bidding war last year, which Kakao won against Hybe. Hybe is the parent company of K-pop superband BTS' management agency, BigHit. Kim had been leading Kakao's management reform committee since its establishment in November last year to respond to mounting criticism over the alleged stock manipulation case involving the company's executives and monopolistic practices by its mobility affiliates. Kakao said it will continue to push ahead with management reform measures and the company's business plans to secure future growth engines, such as artificial intelligence services. Source: Yonhap News Agency