Naver Line’s CPO, Shin Joong-ho, resigns as internal director… Beginning of ‘Naver Withdrawal’
Diplomatic Ministry and Ministry of Science and Technology pledge active response…”Efforts to not receive unfair treatment”,
Naver headquarters in Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi Province. 2024.5.7/News1 ⓒ News1 Kim Young-woon reporter,
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, “(Seoul=News1) Reporter Son Eom-ji = Shin Joong-ho, the chief product officer (CPO) of Naver Line, will step down from his position as an internal director. Line’s outsourcing work with Naver (035420) is also expected to end. It is analyzed that Line Yahoo has taken a stance to ‘withdraw from Naver.'”,
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, ‘On the 8th, Line Yahoo announced the resolution of Shin Joong-ho’s retirement as an internal director at a board meeting. This decision seems to be related to the responsibility for the leak of about 520,000 personal information cases that occurred in November of last year.’,
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, ‘At an earnings announcement held in Tokyo, Japan on the same day, CEO Idezawa Takeshi said, “To improve and strengthen security governance, the board of directors will reduce one internal director and increase the number of outside directors to establish a more independent management system.”‘,
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, ‘Shin Joong-ho, CPO, and Oketani Taku, an executive and chief strategy officer (CSO) of SoftBank, will also step down as directors. With this change, the number of internal directors at Line Yahoo will be reduced from four to two, while the number of outside directors will increase from three to four.’,
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, ‘CEO Idezawa said, “Do not see this as a dismissal,” but with no Koreans left on the board of Line Yahoo, the presence of ‘Korean company Naver’ has been erased.’,
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, ‘Line Yahoo will gradually end the outsourced work to Naver and pursue technological independence. This is in line with the administrative guidance from the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications to separate the information technology (IT) infrastructure tasks entrusted to Naver.’,
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, ‘However, no comments were made regarding the issue of share sales. Currently, negotiations are ongoing between Naver and SoftBank, and no decisions have been made.’,
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, “Earlier, the Japanese government issued administrative guidance to Line Yahoo twice regarding the personal information leaks, demanding a ‘reevaluation of the capital relationship with Naver.’ There was controversy as this was interpreted as a move for Naver to give up part of its stake in Line Yahoo.”,
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, ‘Naver and SoftBank each hold a 50% stake in Line Yahoo’s largest shareholder, A Holdings. Even if Naver transfers just one share to SoftBank, the management rights of Line Yahoo will shift to SoftBank.’,
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, ‘Concerns have grown that it could become a diplomatic issue as public opinion leans towards it being inappropriate for the Japanese government to intervene in the management rights of a private company, and the Korean government is aware of the situation.’,
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, ‘Naver is likely to accept the administrative guidance from the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications but is expected not to comply with the pressure to sell shares. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Science and Technology have also promised an active response.’,
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, ‘At a press conference marking his second anniversary as Minister of Science and Technology, Lee Jong-ho said, “We place the highest value on ensuring that our companies’ overseas businesses and investments are not subjected to unfair treatment.”\n’
