Kakao's 'Innovation' Broken After 47 Days... Ryu Young-jun Remains CEO of Kakao Pay

Term Scheduled Until March This Year
Stock Option Exercise Also On Hold

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] Ryu Young-jun, CEO of Kakao Pay, has resigned from his appointment as co-CEO of Kakao amid controversy over stock option exercises. It has been 47 days since his appointment. He is expected to retain his position as CEO of Kakao Pay.

According to the financial sector on the 10th, Kakao announced that CEO Ryu voluntarily expressed his intention to resign. Kakao stated that it will re-announce once a new CEO is confirmed through internal discussions and procedures.

Previously, Kakao held a board meeting on November 25 last year and appointed current Kakao CEO Yeo Min-soo and CEO Ryu as co-CEOs. CEO Ryu was scheduled to serve as co-CEO following the shareholders' meeting and board meeting planned for March.

However, controversy arose when Kakao Pay executives, including CEO Ryu, sold a large volume of shares last month, just one month after the company went public. Eight Kakao Pay executives, including CEO Ryu, sold a total of 440,000 shares worth 90 billion KRW.

Kakao Pay stated that although CEO Ryu resigned from his appointment as Kakao co-CEO, he will maintain his position as Kakao Pay CEO. His term lasts until March.

Additionally, the plan for CEO Ryu to exercise all remaining stock options within the first half of the year to prevent conflicts of interest after moving to Kakao has been temporarily put on hold.

Meanwhile, Kakao Pay appointed Shin Won-geun, current Vice President of Strategy, as the new CEO in November last year. The appointed CEO Shin will be officially appointed following the regular shareholders' meeting and board meeting scheduled for March this year.

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