Kim Beom-su "Will Make Every Bone-Cutting Effort"... Establishment of the 'Compliance and Trust Committee'

Role of the Executive Body for Compliance Monitoring and Internal Control
Chairman Kim Served as Supreme Court Justice from 2012 to 2018
Center Director Kim Beom-su: "I Will Respect the Committee's Decisions First"

Kakao, embroiled in judicial risks, is embarking on management reform through an external oversight body.

On the 3rd, Kakao announced that it has appointed former Supreme Court Justice Kim So-young as the chairperson of the external body overseeing compliance and ethical management of Kakao affiliates, named the ‘Compliance and Trust Committee’ (hereinafter referred to as the Committee).

Kim So-young, Chairperson of the 'Compliance and Trust Committee'

Kakao recognizes the current situation as the highest level of emergency management and has decided to establish the Committee to accept external control. As the chairperson of the Committee, Kim will meticulously inspect the compliance management status of Kakao affiliates and work to establish a management system that meets societal expectations.

The Committee will be established as an independent external organization separate from Kakao. According to its operational regulations, it will be involved from the stage of selecting major risk factors of Kakao affiliates and building and operating compliance monitoring systems. Additionally, it will have supervisory and proactive investigative authority over various issues for which Kakao has been socially criticized, including excessive affiliate listings, violations of the Fair Trade Act, market monopolization, harm to user interests, and breaches of compliance obligations by top executives.

The Committee will serve as a strong enforcement body capable of renewing the compliance monitoring and internal control systems of individual affiliates. It plans to officially launch within the year by organizing the team, including recruiting additional external personnel, and begin full-scale activities.

Chairperson Kim graduated from Seoul National University Law School and passed the 29th Judicial Examination in 1987 as the top scorer. She has served as a judge at the Seoul District Court, a research judge at the Supreme Court, a deliberator at the Court Administration Office, and a presiding judge at the Seoul Central District Court. She was appointed as a Supreme Court Justice in 2012 and completed her term in 2018. She was the fourth female Supreme Court Justice in history and the first female head of the Court Administration Office. After retirement, she worked as the lead attorney at the law firm KHL and as chairperson of the Korea Press Ethics Commission. Since 2022, she has been working as a lawyer at Kim & Chang law firm and is recognized as an expert in fair trade and capital markets.

Chairperson Kim So-young said, “After hearing Center Director Kim Beom-su’s determination to recognize the Committee’s independent authority, including investigations and reviews of past matters, and to provide company-wide support, I accepted the chairperson position. For a long time, I have believed that true corporate compliance management requires not only ‘compliance management,’ which involves conducting business activities in accordance with social norms and laws, but also ‘trust management,’ which is based on trust with stakeholders such as customers, partners, and the public. I will do my utmost to ensure that this Committee fulfills its supervisory and checking role as an independent expert organization in both compliance and trust, as its name suggests.”

Kim Beom-su, Director of the Future Initiative Center, stated, “Kakao is currently in a crisis, recognizing that the existing management methods are no longer sustainable. We will thoroughly and swiftly review everything from start to finish and make every effort to establish a management system that meets public expectations.” He added, “I will personally respect the decision of the ‘Compliance and Trust Committee,’ and as a major shareholder, I will hold accountable any affiliates whose actions or businesses do not comply.”

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