Kakao Union Says Daum Sale Must Guarantee Employment Succession and Maintain Working Conditions

The Kakao labor union has issued a statement condemning Kakao's decision to sell AXZ, the subsidiary that operates the portal Daum. The union argued that the succession of employment and the maintenance of working conditions for employees belonging to AXZ must be guaranteed.

The Kakao Branch (Crew Union) of the Chemical, Textile and Food Industry Labor Union under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions stated, "We express deep regret over Kakao's recent unilateral decision to push ahead with the sale of AXZ," and on the 3rd released a statement containing this position.

National Union of Chemical, Textile and Food Industry, Kakao Branch (Crew Union) is holding a rally on the 19th in front of Kakao Pangyo Ajit in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, to oppose the spin-off of Content CIC (in-house independent company) that operates the portal service Daum. Yonhap News

Earlier, Kakao signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Upstage to sell AXZ, which operates the portal site Daum. Under the share-swap structure, Kakao will transfer all of its shares in AXZ, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kakao, to Upstage and in return acquire a portion of Upstage's shares. Kakao transferred the Content in-house independent company (CIC) that operates Daum to AXZ, a newly established corporation, in December last year.

According to the union, Kakao management last year signed a mutual growth agreement for employment stability, along with a promise that it was not considering the sale of Daum. Afterwards, Kakao assigned additional personnel from other affiliates such as Kakao Enterprise and DKTechin to AXZ, but decided to sell AXZ just over eight months after its establishment.

The union said, "Kakao's management has repeatedly declared that it would pursue qualitative growth instead of artificial restructuring," and pointed out that "the sale of AXZ is being pushed unilaterally without any consultation with the crews directly involved."

The Kakao labor union demanded that Kakao disclose information, hold consultations on employment stability, faithfully implement the mutual growth agreement, and prepare measures to resolve job insecurity.

Seo Seungwook, head of the Crew Union Kakao Branch, said, "If Kakao truly wishes to restore social trust, it must come up with measures to ensure employment stability for union members who have sweated together, rather than proceed with an opaque sale," adding, "We will respond firmly by mobilizing every possible means until our demands are met."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.