Kakao, Jo Sooyong Departs, Yeo Minsu and Ryu Youngjun Take Over as Co-CEOs (Update)

[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] Kakao announced on the 25th that it has appointed Yeo Minsu and Ryu Youngjun as co-CEOs.

Appointee Ryu is the CEO of Kakao Pay. Kakao held a board meeting in the afternoon and reported the two co-CEO appointees. The two appointees will be officially appointed as CEOs after the shareholders' meeting and board meeting scheduled for March next year.

CEO Yeo was appointed in March 2018 and led Kakao's growth. After being appointed CEO, he introduced Biz Board, contributing to Kakao's highest revenue achievement. He also enhanced the core service KakaoTalk with a focus on "relationship expansion." He has promoted many improvements and changes, including launching the "Wallet," which allows easy and secure identity verification on mobile.

Appointee Ryu joined Kakao as a developer in 2011 and led the development of Voice Talk. He contributed to expanding the tech-finance industry by successfully launching Kakao Pay, Korea's first simple payment service. Since January 2017, as CEO of the independent corporation Kakao Pay, he has visualized the realization of a "wallet-less society" through financial services ranging from online and offline payments, remittances, memberships, and bill authentication to loans, investments, and insurance. He successfully led Kakao Pay's initial public offering (IPO).

A Kakao official said, "CEO Yeo was judged to be the right person to take responsibility for solving social issues promised by the Kakao community, so his reappointment was decided," adding, "He was also highly evaluated for achieving remarkable growth of Kakao based on his expertise in business areas."

Regarding appointee Ryu, it was reflected that he joined Kakao early on and has a deep understanding of Kakao's corporate culture and services such as KakaoTalk, commerce, and tech-finance. Also, since he successfully led Kakao Pay, he was judged to be the right person to lead Kakao's global leap.

CEO Yeo said, "I understand this as a responsibility to faithfully carry out the promises Kakao made to society this year, and I will do my best to play my role in Kakao's journey to create a better society as an innovative company."

Appointee Ryu said, "As this is an important time when Kakao is drawing its 'Next 10 Years' with the task of socially responsible growth, I feel a heavy responsibility as well as excitement for new challenges," adding, "I will do my best to help the company grow bigger based on Kakao's core DNA of 'challenge,' while keeping the vision of a better world created by technology and people."

It is reported that the current CEO Cho Sooyong has conveyed that he does not intend to renew his term after it expires next year. CEO Cho will serve as CEO until the term scheduled for March next year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.