"Not a Matter of Management Rights," Japanese Minister of Internal Affairs Denies Allegations of Management Takeover

Takeaki Matsumoto, Japan's Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications, stated on the 10th regarding the administrative guidance given to Line Yahoo, the operator of the messenger app 'Line,' including a demand to review capital relations, that "it was not done from the perspective of management rights." This is interpreted as a reiteration of a fundamental stance due to concerns over diplomatic issues, as public opinion in South Korea spread that the Japanese government was trying to take away Line Yahoo's management rights from Naver.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Minister Matsumoto said at a press conference after the Cabinet meeting that morning, "We demanded a substantial review of the relationship under capital control and the essential review acceleration of group-wide security governance." Earlier, Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications issued administrative guidance twice to Naver to review the relationship under capital control after personal information from Line was leaked, presumably due to Naver Cloud.

However, he did not specifically explain how the review of the capital control relationship is unrelated to the management rights perspective. Regarding the report to be submitted by Line Yahoo in the future, he said, "We will definitely confirm it." Minister Matsumoto's remarks on this day are interpreted in the same context as those of Yoshimasa Hayashi, the Japanese government spokesperson and Chief Cabinet Secretary. At that time, he said, "The administrative guidance demanded measures such as strengthening safety management and reviewing security governance," and "There is no change in the position to promote investment in Japan by foreign companies, including South Korea."

Line Yahoo is the operator of the messenger app Line. Currently, Naver and SoftBank each hold 50% of the shares of A Holdings, the parent company of Line Yahoo. However, if the capital relationship is broken according to the Japanese government's administrative guidance, the balance of their shares will inevitably be disrupted. This is why the controversy over the seizure of management rights continues to be raised. Line, launched by Naver in 2011, is currently regarded as a "national messenger" in Japan, with 96 million monthly users.

Contrary to the Japanese government's position that it did not force the sale of shares from the perspective of management rights, pressure on Naver from related companies is also intensifying. Junichi Miyakawa, CEO of SoftBank, confirmed the day before that they are discussing the issue of shares between Naver and A Holdings. At this meeting, he also stated, "This is an issue that could even lead to a lawsuit against Naver."

Politicians have also joined in. Local media reported that ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers are claiming that platform operators are public goods and are urging Line Yahoo to break away from dependence on Naver.

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