'Kakao Blackout' Causes Widespread Damage... From Compensation Claims to Class Action Lawsuits

400 Small Business Damage Cases Reported
More Than 31 Industries... KakaoTalk Outage Most Inconvenient
"Compensation Needed for Free Services Too"

Last weekend, the Kakao service outage caused widespread damage to self-employed workers, taxi drivers, and others. They plan to demand compensation from Kakao in coordination with higher organizations. Ordinary citizens are also showing signs of collective lawsuits.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Gyumin] Last weekend was a 'nightmare' for Kim Miyoung (alias). Kim runs a small coffee shop in her neighborhood and has relied on the KakaoTalk channel for reservations and related tasks. However, when KakaoTalk went 'down' on the 15th, her business was disrupted. She suffered losses estimated between 500,000 and 800,000 KRW that day.

Lee Dongjin, who makes bags according to customers' desired designs, experienced the same. Lee earns up to 10 million KRW a day by consulting with customers through the KakaoTalk channel to produce bags. On the same day, he only earned 2 million KRW, about 20% of his usual sales.

Last weekend's Kakao service outage caused widespread damage to self-employed workers, taxi drivers, and others. They plan to demand compensation from Kakao through their affiliated organizations. Ordinary citizens are also showing signs of collective lawsuits regarding Kakao's free services.

Various Affected Industries... Small Business Association "Preparing Measures"

The Small Business Association announced that as of 2 p.m. on the 18th, about 400 damage reports had been received since starting the 'Kakao Paralysis Small Business Damage Reception' at 4 p.m. on the 17th.

Self-employed individuals complained of damages regardless of industry. More than 31 industries, including wholesale and retail, internet shopping, cafes, and overseas direct purchase agencies, reported damages due to the Kakao incident. Even industries seemingly distant from the Kakao platform, such as academies, photography businesses, and workshops, reported damages.

In particular, the KakaoTalk service outage caused the greatest damage to self-employed workers. A person running an internet shopping mall, Mr. A, only consults customers through the KakaoTalk channel. He said, "During the weekend, the (KakaoTalk) service was paralyzed, so I couldn't check wholesale suppliers," and "I couldn't check customer inquiries either, resulting in significant damage."

The Small Business Association has begun preparing countermeasures, sharing information with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. An official stated, "We need to categorize cases through damage reports received by the 21st and determine whether corresponding responses are necessary." However, since coordination or cooperation with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups is required, specific countermeasures have not been decided, and "it is difficult to make an immediate judgment on whether to pursue litigation."

On the 18th, union members belonging to the National Democratic Taxi Union held an emergency press conference for corporate taxi workers regarding the 'KakaoT service disruption damage' and the government's late-night ride difficulty relief measures at the Service Federation conference room in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

"Compensate for Free Services Too"... Taxi Drivers and Citizens Step Forward

Taxi drivers who suffered damages due to KakaoT errors also demanded compensation from Kakao. On the 18th, the National Democratic Taxi Labor Union of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions Service Federation held a press conference stating, "Corporate taxi workers could not meet their daily quotas, leading to early cessation of weekend taxi operations or long hours of 'street smoking,' causing a very chaotic situation for two days," and demanded an apology, compensation for KakaoT free service subscribers, and measures to prevent recurrence. It is known that they are considering lawsuits if damages are significant based on case analysis.

Citizens using Kakao-related free services also reported damages and are moving toward collective lawsuits. Attorney Shin Jaeyeon of LKBN Partners opened a Naver Cafe titled 'Compensation for Damages Caused by KakaoTalk Fire Outage.' Attorney Shin stated, "Regardless of the cause of the fire, compensation claims can be made against Kakao's negligence for not preparing in advance for such a situation." He further argued that responsibility can be held for failing to fulfill contractual service obligations related to paid services, and for free services, compensation for damages and claims for consolation money can be made by proving the damages.

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