Kakao Union: "All Five Unions, Including Headquarters, Approve Strike Vote"

Four Kakao Affiliates, Including Kakao Pay and Kakao Enterprise, Move Toward Strike Action

Headquarters Union Awaits Additional Mediation Meeting

The strike vote conducted by five subsidiaries within the Kakao Group has passed with approval. As a result, the labor unions of four affiliates, excluding Kakao's headquarters, are now able to engage in industrial action, including strikes.

The Kakao Branch of the National Chemical Fiber Food Industry Labor Union (Kakao Union) held a rally at Pangyo Station Plaza in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, on the 20th and announced, "By 11 a.m. today, the strike votes in all five subsidiaries were passed in favor."

Members of the Kakao Branch of the National Chemical, Textile, and Food Industry Labor Union (Kakao Labor Union) are holding the 'Resolve for Victory in 2026 Wage and Working Conditions Negotiations Rally' on the 20th at Pangyo Station Square in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Yonhap News

The Kakao Union also stated, "Now that we have secured legal rights for industrial action, we will share our future plans for the struggle."

Consequently, four subsidiaries—Kakao Pay, Kakao Enterprise, DK Techin, and XL Games—have now entered the stage of collective action, including strikes. The labor and management of these four companies have already secured the right to strike after the Gyeonggi Regional Labor Relations Commission decided to halt mediation. The suspension of mediation is a procedure in which mediation is terminated when the difference in positions between labor and management is deemed too large to reach an agreement. In such cases, the union secures the right to take industrial action, including strikes, through a vote among its members.

Kakao's labor and management are scheduled to hold a second mediation meeting at 3 p.m. on the 27th. After the first mediation session, which took place at the Gyeonggi Regional Labor Relations Commission on the 18th, both sides agreed to postpone the mediation date. If no agreement is reached at the upcoming mediation meeting, it appears that the Kakao Union will also proceed with the process to secure the right to strike.

Previously, amid labor-management conflict surrounding the performance-based compensation system, the Kakao Union submitted a mediation application to the Gyeonggi Regional Labor Relations Commission on the 7th, with the participation of unions from five subsidiaries: Kakao, Kakao Pay, Kakao Enterprise, DK Techin, and XL Games.

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