Kakao CEO apologizes as wage talks fail, union warns of first-ever HQ strike

Kakao CEO Jeong Sin-a has apologized to employees for the failure to reach an agreement in wage negotiations, a situation that has led to the threat of the company's first-ever headquarters strike. "I am truly sorry that we have not been able to quickly resolve the various concerns and uncertainties," Jeong stated in an internal company announcement.

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I am truly sorry that we have not been able to quickly resolve the various concerns and uncertainties.

The negotiations broke down the previous night at the Gyeonggi Regional Labor Relations Commission. Jeong acknowledged the prolonged discussions and the extended wait for Kakao employees, referred to as 'cruws.'

In an effort to improve the KakaoTalk service, Jeong also announced plans for organizational restructuring. The company will split the existing Chief Product Officer (CPO) organization into 'KakaoTalk' and 'Business' divisions. Design teams, currently dispersed, will be integrated to enhance expertise and collaboration. A 'User First' task force will be established within the KakaoTalk organization to re-evaluate the service from a user's perspective, especially after user backlash following a major service overhaul last September.

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I am truly sorry that we have not been able to quickly resolve the various concerns and uncertainties.

The Kakao union, however, criticized the company's handling of the negotiations. In a statement, the union accused the company of undermining trust by unilaterally distributing performance bonuses and disrupting dialogue through repeated changes in negotiation representatives and insufficient revised proposals. The union asserted that the breakdown in talks was a direct result of the company's failure to seize opportunities to rebuild trust.

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The company unilaterally distributed bonuses during negotiations, undermining trust, and disrupted dialogue by repeatedly changing negotiators and offering insufficient revised proposals.