Kim Beom-su to step down as chairman of board of Brian Impact Foundation

Kakao founder Kim Beom-su is stepping down as chairman of the board of the Brian Impact Foundation, a private charity foundation Kim founded last year. His successor is Kim Jung-ho, Naver co-founder and CEO of Bear Better.

Brian Impact Foundation Chairman Kim Jung-ho [BRIAN IMPACT FOUNDATION]

Kakao founder Kim Beom-su is stepping down as chairman of the board of the Brian Impact Foundation, a private charity foundation Kim founded last year. His successor is Kim Jung-ho, Naver co-founder and CEO of Bear Better.

Kakao founder Kim established the Brian Impact Foundation in June last year, after signing The Giving Pledge in March. As a part of the pledge to donate over half of his fortune, Kim sold 500 billion won's ($398 million) worth of stock to set up the foundation with the goal of supporting “innovators in technology” and helping “people adapt to forthcoming, rapid changes in technology.”

Kim Beom-su will keep his position as a board member, participating in biweekly meetings to work with the new chairman, according to the Brian Impact Foundation.

“We believe that Kakao founder Kim handed his position over to Kim Jung-ho, who is well-qualified for the post, partly to focus more on Kakao’s global businesses,” said a public relations representative for the Brian Impact Foundation.

Kim Beom-su also resigned as chairman of Kakao in March this year while remaining as the chief of the Kakao Future Initiative Center, to focus more on the company’s global expansion strategy.

Kim Jung-ho, the Brian Impact’s incoming chairman who was appointed by the board Thursday, will serve in the position for two years without being paid, said Kim through his Facebook post on Friday.

“Kakao founder Kim pledged half of his fortune to truly make a contribution for the good of society, and I won’t add to the cost for that,” said Kim.

Kim Jung-ho, who has been a board member of the Brian Impact Foundation, is one of the seven co-founders of Naver and served as CEO of online gaming company Hangame of NHN until 2011. Kim established social enterprise Bear Better, which provides employment for people with autism and other developmental disabilities, with co-CEO Lee Jin-hee in 2012.

Following Kim Jung-ho’s appointment, the Brian Impact foundation is set to implement a new management practice based on the new chairman’s proposal. The foundation will be executing budgets as soon as Kakao founder Kim donates funding without setting the money aside for later use, in order to avoid any malpractice in the process.

The Brian Impact Foundation announced in March that it will provide a total of 10 billion won by 2024 to six non-profit organizations supporting women, children, and labor workers as well as environmental causes.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]