Kakao hires law firm to investigate executive's Facebook rant

Kakao has hired an external law firm to investigate executive Kim Jeong-ho's alleged verbal abuse of employees and disclosure of sensitive information. The law firm's findings so far suggest that Kim's allegations against Kakao were unfounded.

Kakao executive Kim Jeong-ho [KAKAO]

Kakao has tapped a law firm to penalize its executive Kim Jeong-ho, who made headlines last November with a Facebook post about Kakao’s internal frictions.

A Kakao spokesperson said Wednesday that the company had requested an outside law firm to investigate Kim's actions at the end of last year.

Kim is alleged to have verbally abused other employees, and used profanity, during a meeting in November. The executive took to social media to apologize for his actions, but also openly criticized Kakao’s corporate culture, highlighting allegations related to the company’s real estate projects and corporate golf membership program.

“We hired an outside law firm to investigate two things: whether Kim actually did use swear words and his disclosure of classified information,” Kakao spokesperson told the Korea JooongAng Daily. “We did not hire the firm to investigate whether Kim’s claims are true. As of now, we cannot confirm anything for sure because the reports are directly filed to the inner ethics committee.”

The spokesperson did not provide a clear timeline as to when the committee will hand over Kim’s verdict.

The JoongAng Ilbo reported Wednesday said that Kim's outbursts about the company were “mostly” false, per the law firm's findings, and that Kakao’s Compliance and Credibility Committee will determine the executive’s penalty.

“The allegations raised by Kim, after investigation, were groundless accusations or lacked evidence,” the law firm told the JoongAng Ilbo. “No cases of internal regulatory violations were found.”

The Kakao spokesperson declined to comment on the validity of the law firm's quotes.

Kim still retains his title as the head of management support for Kakao’s Corporate Alignment Council, the firm's independent body tasked with coordinating internal interests, but is not active on the scene, Kakao said.

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