Kakao union criticizes pre-prepared Q&A... Urge to hold additional meetings

Focus on answering pre-organized questions... Request for full disclosure of shareholder questions

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Sang-yong Han = The Kakao [035720] labor union requested an additional meeting, saying that the online meeting of minority shareholders regarding Kakao's spin-off held the previous day was focused on pre-prepared questions and answers.

The Kakao Association of the National Chemical Fiber and Food Industry Workers' Union issued a statement on the 16th and said, "Although we advocated for communication with minority shareholders, in reality, it was merely a re-notification of an already decided conclusion."

Kakao held an online meeting for minority shareholders for about an hour the previous afternoon.

Kim Do-young, head of Kakao Group Investment Strategy Department, and Kakao Business General Manager Jeon Hyun-soo attended, but Kakao CEO Shin Ah did not attend.

The Kakao labor union pointed out that the meeting did not specifically explain the need for the division or measures to protect shareholder value and working conditions after the division.

The Kakao union also voiced criticism over the way the meeting was conducted.

According to the union, 14 of the 16 questions answered by Kakao management were questions that the company had organized in advance.

Of the on-site shareholder questions, only two were answered, and the time allotted for them was only about six minutes.

Ahn Se-jin, vice chairman of the Kakao Association, criticized, "I wonder if the company thinks it can persuade shareholders by answering only the questions it wants and ignoring uncomfortable questions," and added, "What Kakao showed was 'showboating', not communication."

In addition, the Kakao union demanded an explanation of the timing of the division and measures to ensure employment, compensation, welfare, and evaluation systems, and also urged the public to disclose all shareholder questions received.

Kakao Association branch president Seo Seung-wook said, “We need to hold an additional public meeting attended by responsible executives, including CEO Jung Shin-ah, and directly answer actual shareholder questions.”