Kakao names Shina Chung, beforehand its VC lead, as new CEO amid ongoing disaster 

South Korean web large Kakao — in the course of a number of investigations over antitrust and securities violations — has appointed a brand new CEO because it tries to show the ship round. Shina Chung, who had been working the corporate’s enterprise arm, is shifting to the highest position on the firm.  

Chung will formally step into the position subsequent yr following the corporate’s subsequent board and shareholders’ assembly in March, in keeping with the corporate. She is going to change into the primary feminine CEO at Kakao, and her appointment is meant to sign that the corporate is now in pressing reform mode.

“I will carry out active and responsible management” to fulfill the expectations and requirements of society, Chung mentioned in its assertion. “I will not miss this opportunity for change because Kakao does not have much time.”

Kakao founder Beom-soo Kim had hinted that Kakao could be getting new management on Monday, at an inner assembly, noting, “Kakao has come to the point where we must try fundamental changes. We will establish leadership to lead a new Kakao.”

Picture Credit: Kakao CEO nominee

Kakao, which operates a wildly well-liked superapp of the identical title, leads the nation in companies like messaging and Uber-like transportation on demand. But its place on the prime has come at a value.

In October, Kakao chief funding officer (CIO) Jae-Hyun Bae was arrested and accused of inventory value manipulation after Kakao acquired Okay-pop company SM Leisure in August. If Kakao’s CIO and different execs get convicted, Kakao could be forced to sell at least 10% of its stake in its online banking unit, Kakao Bank.

Individually, simply final month, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol referred to as for a evaluate of the monopolistic practices of Kakao’s taxi-hailing unit, Kakao Mobility. The declare is that the corporate is manipulating algorithms in its app to favor assigning rides to Kakao-franchised taxi drivers, who subscribe to Kakao’s paid membership, over non-Kakao taxi drivers.

Korea’s antitrust regulator had already fined Kakao Mobility about $20.3 million for unfair service in February. Kakao Mobility, which has about 74% of the ride-hailing market in the country as of September, individually is attempting to decrease the temperature round this controvery. Immediately it introduced that it could decrease fee charges from 5% to 2.8% for taxi drivers, and that it plans to revise its membership scheme subsequent yr.

Based in 1995 in Jeju, South Korea, Kakao — which began out as an web search engine formally generally known as Daum — has now change into South Korea’s tremendous app, providing the nation’s hottest messaging app, KakaoTalk, taxi-hailing service Kakao Mobility, on-line banking platform Kakao Financial institution, music streaming app Melon and webtoon platforms Tapas Media and Radish and extra. It has carried out aggressive M&A offers prior to now few years in South Korea and has international ambitions, too. Kakao has greater than 140 subsidiaries as of October. 

Chung — who labored at Boston Consulting Group, eBay Asia and Naver previous to becoming a member of Kakao Ventures in 2014 to put money into native startups — may have her work reduce out for her.