Crisis-hit Kakao appoints first-ever female CEO to ease troubles

Kakao, a leading tech company in Korea swept under stock manipulation disputes and inner frictions, tapped Kakao Ventures head Chung Shin-a as its new CEO, it said on Wednesday.

Kakao turned to Chung Shin-a, Kakao Ventures CEO, to head the company on Wednesday. [KAKAO]

Kakao named 48-year-old Kakao Ventures head Chung Shin-a as its new CEO, as part of an effort to revamp the company which is currently swamped by multiple allegations related to stock manipulation and inner frictions.

She is the first female Kakao boss since the company was established in 2010.

Chung was nominated during a meeting of Kakao's CEO nomination committee on Wednesday.

She will be formally appointed to head the company through a general shareholders' meeting and a board of directors’ meeting next March.

"We've determined that new leadership was necessary to facilitate the forthcoming change and decided that Chung is an adequate leader with expertise in the IT industry and a comprehensive understanding of hardships that a company goes through as it grows," the company said.

"Chung will secure the proper AI technologies to head the company and resolve hurdles by creating an appropriate system and company structure," it added.

The move comes after Kakao founder Kim Beom-su promised a complete overhaul of Kakao's management on Monday. He said the company will focus on becoming a socially responsible company through internal changes to its strategies, governance, leadership and company culture.

Kakao faces charges of artificially inflating the stock prices of SM Entertainment by injecting some 240 billion won ($181.9 million) to take over the K-pop agency against HYBE, alongside inner company frictions with a Kakao executive calling out some of its malpractices involving its real estate projects and golf memberships.

After graduating from Yonsei University with bachelor’s degrees in French Literature and Business Administration, Chung earned her MBA at the same university. She also earned an MBA at the University of Michigan.

Chung started her career as a consultant in 2000 at Boston Consulting Group. She worked for companies such as U.S. ecommerce giant eBay in the Asia Pacific region and Korean portal giant Naver before joining Kakao Ventures in 2014. She took charge of the company in 2018 and contributed to discovering a variety of IT startups, including those in AI robots, mobile platforms, video games and digital health care.

Chung took on an advisory role at Kakao in March to improve the company's overall business structure and services. She joined the Kakao Corporate Alignment Council in September, a body that devises corporate strategies and oversees Kakao’s subsidiaries.

Until her formal appointment, Chung will head the task force created for the company's management overhaul and establish new business objectives.

"I feel the weight of my responsibility and a sense of duty as [the company's incoming CEO]," Chung said. "To meet society's expectations and standards, I will not only focus on growth but also take responsibility for management while focusing on future core businesses."

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]