For reasons such as strengthening social responsibility, Kakao will switch from Namgoong-hoon’s sole representative system to ‘Namgoong-hoon-Hong Eun-taek’ respectively.

Kakao held a board meeting on the 14th and announced that Eun-taek Hong, the co-head of the Kakao Community Alignment center, was newly appointed as Kakao’s respective representatives.

The company explained, This is to achieve both goals of strengthening Kakao’s social responsibility and enhancing corporate value.

Each CEO Hong Eun-taek focuses on strengthening ESG management, which he was in charge of at the Community Alignment Center (CAC), and fulfilling social responsibility by overseeing sustainable growth strategies.

As before, each CEO Nam Goong-hoon oversees Kakao’s services and business, and is dedicated to increasing corporate value by leading global expansion.

Hong Eun-taek, the co-chair of the community alignment center, and the chairman of the Kakao Impact Foundation, currently held by each CEO, will remain.

In April of this year, Kakao unveiled a plan to create a mutual growth fund worth 300 billion won over five years at the community level to achieve sustainable growth with Kakao partners such as small business owners, creators, and platform workers. Through this, win-win projects such as the ‘Soshin Merchant’ project to help traditional market merchants make digital transformation and the ‘Jega Burch’ project to solve the agricultural and fishery product inventory problem are being promoted in earnest.

In addition, at the ESG management level, a ‘Digital Accessibility Officer (DAO)’ was appointed to strengthen digital accessibility, and the ‘Active Green initiative’ was declared to take an active role in resolving environmental problems. Through this, Net-Zero, which aims to achieve zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040, is being promoted.

The company expects that these sustainable growth projects and ESG management efforts will be further strengthened and accelerated through linking with the Kakao platform, with the appointment of each CEO Eun-taek Hong as an opportunity.

Each CEO Hong Eun-taek said, Based on the innovation and values that Kakao has created, we will find ways to contribute to society using our technology and services. We will play a role in making it a growing company.

Each CEO Nam Goong-hoon emphasized, From now on, we will do our best to expand Kakao’s global expansion and strengthen social responsibility by working together with each CEO, Eun-taek Hong, in their respective positions and sometimes together.

Each CEO Hong Eun-taek joined Kakao as vice president of content service in 2012 and launched Kakao Makers, a joint ordering platform with Kakao Page. After that, he served as the CEO of Kakao Commerce for three years from 2018, and the transaction amount of Kakao Commerce more than quadrupled. Since the beginning of this year, he has served as the co-head of the Community Alignment Center and an inside director of Kakao, overseeing the ESG management of the Kakao community and contemplating the social role.

[Hong Eun-taek representative profile]

[예능]

Head of Kakao Community Alignment Center

Chairman, Kakao Impact Foundation

Each representative of Kakao

-Born in 1963

-Bachelor of Oriental History, Seoul National University, 1986

-2005 Master’s degree in Journalism, University of Missouri, USA

1989 Dong-A Ilbo reporter, Washington correspondent

-2003 KBIA Producer

-2005 OhmyNews International Edition Editor-in-Chief

-2006 NHN service operation general manager, media service group head, ecosystem TF head, CEO support office, etc.

-2012 NHN NEXT Professor

-2012 Vice President of Kakao Content Services

-2014 Daum Kakao Contents Team Leader

-2015 Daum Kakao Social Impact Team Leader

-2015-2016 Chief Executive Officer, Kakao

-2016-2017 Senior Vice President of Kakao Social Impact

-2017-2019 CEO, Kakao Makers

-2018-2021 CEO, Kakao Commerce

-2022 Head of Kakao Community Alignment Center / Representative of Kakao