“Do We Have to Cross the Sea?” Kakao’s General Meeting in Jeju Stirs Controversy Again

holding the general meeting in Jeju to block shareholders from coming?” Shareholders can exercise their vote by voting online, but the meeting will not be aired live.

According to the Korea Exchange disclosure site on February 23, Kakao announced on Wednesday that the company would hold its 28th general meeting at the Kakao head office in Jeju-si, Jeju Special Self-governing Province on March 28.

This will not be the first time. Kakao has held its general meeting in Jeju-do every year. The company explained, “According to the Commercial Act and our articles of association, we are to hold the general meeting in Jeju-do, where the principal office is located.”

Article 364 of the Commercial Act stipulates, “Unless otherwise provided for in the articles of incorporation, a general meeting of shareholders shall be convened at the place of the principal office or at some place adjacent thereto.”

Kakao originally started in Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi, but after it merged with Daum Communications, which was based in Jeju-do, the principal office was relocated to Jeju. Currently, most of its employees work in the corporate building in Pangyo, but the head office is in Jeju-do.

For Kakao to change the venue of its general meeting, it must state a separate regulation in its articles of association or relocate its head office. However, relocating the principal office also requires revisions to its articles of association. A Kakao representative said, “At present, we do not have any specific plans to change the location of our general meeting.”

The company claims that the decision was made based on the Commercial Act and its articles of association, but ever since Kakao--a company that ranks around tenth according to its market cap on KOSPI--began hosting its general meeting in Jeju-do, individual investors have complained about accessibility.

After Kakao announced its plan for the general meeting on Wednesday, comments such as “Let’s not hold a general meeting in Jeju-do,” and “They took the principal office to Jeju-do so they could do whatever they wanted,” have been popping up on online stock forums in major web portals.

The Kakao representative explained, “Shareholders can exercise their voting rights with online voting or an e-letter of attorney even if they do not personally attend the meeting at the venue,” and said, “Kakao adopted an online voting policy rather early in 2015 and has been using it ever since.”

According to Kakao, 44.9% of shareholders, excluding the company’s biggest shareholder and affiliated people, attended the general meeting last year. Among those present, 19% voted online. But while some companies broadcast their general meetings live online, at present, Kakao does not provide such services.