Kakao announces user compensation plan following data center fire

Kakao will hand out 30,000 won ($23.70) to 50,000 won of compensation to individual businesses that reported revenue losses after a 127-hour service breakdown in October.

Kakao office building in Pangyo, Gyeonggi [YONHAP]

Kakao will hand out 30,000 won ($23.70) to 50,000 won of compensation to individual businesses that reported revenue losses after a 127-hour service breakdown in October.

Kakao, which runs the KakaoTalk messenger app, announced its user compensation plan on Thursday, which included doling out three emoji packages as general compensation for all of its messenger users.

Those who reported revenue loss of less than 300,000 won will be given 30,000 won, and 50,000 won when the loss reported was below 500,000 won.

Those who reported revenue losses exceeding 500,000 won may receive additional compensation after a review process, according to Kakao.

Major Kakao services, including Kakao Talk, Kakao T and Kakao Bank, went down on Oct. 15 due to a fire at an SK C&C data center in Pangyo.

It took five days for services to be fully restored, making daily communication near impossible for many, and forcing a temporary halt to businesses running on the apps and some financial activities.

KakaoTalk has an overwhelming dominance in the local messenger market, with a 95.8 percent share in terms of usage time, according to WiseApp.

The messenger app had more than 40 million active daily users as of October. Korea's total population is 52 million.

A total of 105,116 damage reports were made from Oct. 19 to Nov. 6, with 17 percent of them related to paid services.

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