Kakao Announces Compensation Plan for Disability Damage...Up to 50,000 Won for Small Business Owners (Update)

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[Asia Economy Reporter Yuri Choi] Kakao will provide a one-time cash compensation of up to 50,000 KRW to small business owners who reported damages caused by the data center fire in October. General users will be offered KakaoTalk emoticons and other benefits.

On the 29th, Kakao's '1015 Damage Support Council (hereafter the Council)' announced a support plan for service disruption damages caused by the SK C&C data center fire.

Damage support will be provided separately for general users of Kakao services and business partners who suffered operational losses due to the service disruption.

General users will receive a total of three types of emoticons (one permanent use, two for 90 days). These are intended to convey Kakao's promise and apology to provide stable services in the future. Additionally, users will be given two appreciation coupons (2,000 KRW and 3,000 KRW) usable on the impact commerce platform 'Kakao Makers,' which connects small businesses and agricultural and marine product producers, as well as a one-month subscription (for 3 million users) to KakaoTalk's data management service 'Talk Storage Plus.'

Small business owners who reported damages will receive support funds based on the scale of their sales losses. Considering factors such as small business operating profit margins, availability of alternative services, and Kakao's market share for the affected service, those with sales losses of 300,000 KRW or less will receive 30,000 KRW, and those with losses exceeding 300,000 KRW but not exceeding 500,000 KRW will receive 50,000 KRW. The Council determined the support brackets after analyzing reported damage cases and considering the median amount of reported damages.

For damage cases exceeding 500,000 KRW, the Council plans to consider additional support through review and damage verification processes. A dedicated customer center will also be operated for this damage support. Reviews of additional reported cases will be conducted based on submitted documents such as small business verification certificates, sales damage proof materials, and service usage business proof documents.

Separately, following a proposal from the Small Business Federation, Kakao has established the 'KakaoTalk Channel Cash Program for Small Business Owners,' providing free cash worth 50,000 KRW to all small business owners to send messages via KakaoTalk channels. Through this program, Kakao plans to offer digital tools that help small business owners generate new sales and manage customers more efficiently via KakaoTalk.

Hong Eun-taek, CEO of Kakao, stated, "This damage support marks the beginning of our process to respond to the questions society posed to us following the 1015 disruption," adding, "In the new year, we plan to identify and implement necessary tasks from a mid- to long-term perspective."

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