[News Figures] 'Kim Beom-su's Man' Namgung Hoon, Can He Save Kakao Amid Multiple Crises?

Namgung Hoon, Co-CEO of Kakao

Kim Beom-su's man, Korea's first-generation game company CEO, and now Namgung Hoon, co-CEO holding Kakao's rudder, face a challenging road ahead. The group's stock price has plummeted, and consumer dissatisfaction has peaked due to a service outage caused by a data center fire. CEO Namgung has already made a firm commitment, promising to take only the minimum wage until the stock price recovers. Can he illuminate the path forward for Kakao trapped in the storm?

Korea's First-Generation Game Entrepreneur... Over 20 Years of Ties with Kim Beom-su

Namgung, known as the 'right-hand man' of Kakao founder Kim Beom-su, has maintained a relationship with Kim for over 20 years. Born in 1972, he graduated from Sogang University with a degree in Business Administration and met Kim when he joined Samsung SDS in 1997. At that time, Korea was in the midst of a venture startup boom, and Kim left the company a year later to open a PC bang with dreams of founding a game company. Namgung joined him, and the two became partners.

CEO Namgung Profile

Namgung served as head of communications at 'Hangame,' a game portal founded by Kim and others in 1999, effectively acting as a founding member. He also participated when Hangame merged with Navercom to launch 'NHN' in 2000, and in 2006, he rose to oversee NHN's Korean game business. By this time, he was recognized as a first-generation online game entrepreneur in Korea.

His career has not always peaked. After leaving NHN, Namgung served as CEO of CJ Internet in 2009 but resigned after failing to renew the rights to the popular domestic game 'Sudden Attack.' He later served as CEO of WeMade Entertainment before reuniting with Kim in 2016 as co-CEO of Kakao Games.

Direct Sales at PC Bangs, Facebook Communication... Drive and Honesty as Weapons

Namgung is noted for his proactive communication, candidness in expressing his true feelings, and exceptional drive. During the founding of Hangame, he personally visited PC bangs nationwide to sell products and even repaired computers to win over part-time workers. When he resigned as CEO of CJ Internet, he candidly shared on his personal Facebook account, "I hope that even later, good results will prove that my tenure was not in vain."

After becoming CEO of Kakao Games, he successfully launched the mobile game 'Odin: Valhalla Rising' and, riding that momentum, led the company to a successful IPO in 2020, earning the title of Kakao's first listed subsidiary.

Kakao Games was listed on the KOSDAQ market on September 10, 2020. At that time, it attracted a record-breaking subscription deposit of over approximately 58 trillion won. / Photo by Yonhap News

Founder Kim also appears to trust Namgung's leadership. When Kakao faced a crisis, Kim, then chairman of Kakao's board, appointed him as a savior.

In November last year, some executives of Kakao's electronic payment subsidiary 'Kakao Pay' sold large amounts of stock, sparking a so-called 'eat-and-run' controversy. At that time, Kakao was facing severe image damage amid criticism for encroaching on local businesses with over 110 subsidiaries. Eventually, Ryu Young-jun, then co-CEO designate of Kakao, took responsibility and voluntarily resigned, and Namgung was selected as the next CEO.

In a message to Kakao employees in January, Kim expressed, "I feel a heavy responsibility for the significant loss of social trust we have built over a long time." He also emphasized the importance of restoring mutual trust between management and employees. This is why Namgung, who is proactive and values communication with customers and the organization, was chosen to lead Kakao.

"I Will Take Minimum Wage Until Stock Price Recovers" - Can He Lead Kakao Through the Storm?

Namgung took the helm during a difficult time. In February, while still CEO designate, he pledged on Facebook, "I will withhold all salary and incentives until Kakao's stock price recovers to 150,000 won and will only take the legal minimum wage." The minimum wage is about 1.9 million won per month, meaning Namgung received approximately 11 million won as CEO compensation in the first half of this year.

As of 1:30 PM on the 18th, Kakao's stock price was slightly below 50,000 won, at about 49,200 won. It needs to rise more than threefold for Namgung's pledge to be fulfilled.

On the afternoon of the 15th, a fire broke out at the SK Pangyo Data Center Campus in Sampyeong-dong, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do. / Photo by Yonhap News

To make matters worse, on the 15th, a fire at the SK Internet Data Center (IDC) in Pangyo, Seongnam City, Gyeonggi Province, damaged Kakao's servers housed there, causing multiple services, including KakaoTalk, to be down for about 10 hours. Some consumers are preparing a class-action lawsuit for damages, and the National Assembly is discussing summoning Kakao's management as witnesses for a comprehensive audit on the 24th. The National Security Office has decided to form a government-wide 'Cybersecurity Task Force (TF)' in response to the Kakao outage incident.

Co-CEOs Namgung Hoon and Hong Eun-taek issued a statement six hours after the Kakao service disruption, saying, "We sincerely apologize to all users who experienced inconvenience" and promised, "We will thoroughly investigate the cause of this incident and take all possible measures to prevent recurrence."

Namgung now faces the dual challenge of restoring Kakao's trust and strengthening service stability. Political circles are also expressing concern over issues such as local business coexistence controversies and security problems. To resolve society's deep distrust of Kakao and leap forward as a genuine global platform business, Namgung's ability and dedication are absolutely essential.