[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] As the number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) increases, IT companies such as Naver and Kakao have also entered an emergency system, implementing measures such as remote work for pregnant employees and closing open spaces to outsiders.
On the 25th, Naver temporarily closed the library and cafe at its headquarters 'Green Factory' located in Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do until the 29th. The 'Naver Library' located in the first-floor lobby of the headquarters is a library open to the general public and is a symbolic space of the Naver building.
A Naver official stated, "Since the outbreak of COVID-19, we have been operating a company-wide task force (TF). From today, we are closing cafes, stores, and libraries that have many external visitors and expanding disinfection work to include workspaces."
Naver also banned business trips to China and the Daegu and Cheongdo regions and issued a directive to refrain from fieldwork and business trips. Pregnant employees and those with chronic diseases were allowed to work from home. Employees caring for infants and elderly parents were also permitted to work remotely. The press room operation was temporarily suspended.
Kakao is also allowing pregnant employees and those with children attending closed or suspended institutions to work from home. In particular, pregnant employees will work from home until the situation stabilizes. Kakao's subsidiary Kakao Kids has implemented remote work for all employees.
Kakao has completely banned events where many people gather, such as workshops and company dinners, and decided to replace domestic business trips with conference calls. Kakao also announced that the investor relations (IR) meeting scheduled for that day would be replaced by a conference call to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Additionally, strong control measures have been implemented for external visitors at the Jeju headquarters and the Pangyo office in Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do. Only pre-registered visitors through the visitor registration system are allowed entry, and unregistered individuals are restricted.
A Kakao official explained, "Since we have a system based on KakaoTalk that allows sharing work regardless of location, we do not expect significant difficulties."
Major IT companies have also temporarily closed their press rooms. The press rooms of NCSoft and NHN located in Pangyo have been temporarily suspended since the afternoon of the previous day. Microsoft Korea, located in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, also announced, "Due to the COVID-19 crisis alert being raised to the highest level, 'serious,' the press room will be temporarily closed."
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