Kakao to Build New Headquarters... "Creating a Community Space"

Training Center Construction Project to Gather Affiliate Employees in One Place

[Asia Economy Reporter Jin-gyu Lee] Kakao is expected to embark on constructing a company building. Prior to the building construction, it has started work on establishing a training center where employees from its affiliates can gather in one place.

According to industry sources on the 27th, Kakao recently added "real estate development and supply business" to the company's articles of incorporation.

Kakao explained, "This is a preemptive amendment of the articles of incorporation from a long-term perspective to prepare community spaces for the Kakao group," adding, "Currently, this is not a new business with concrete plans."

Except for its headquarters in Jeju, Kakao does not have a proper company building. The only other building it owns is the Samsung-dong office in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, which came with the merger of Loen Entertainment and is currently used by Kakao M.

Major Kakao affiliates rent offices in areas such as Pangyo. Initially, there were expectations in the industry that Kakao would purchase the planned site near Pangyo District Office to build a company building, but Kakao did not participate in Seongnam City's sale bid last year. It is also speculated that Kakao refrained from bidding due to the expected bid price reaching 1 trillion won.

Some pointed out that there is no space for affiliate employees to gather in one place. In response, Kakao has started work on establishing a training center before constructing the company building. Kakao is conducting the "Forest One Project" through Kakao IX, which operates the "Kakao Friends" business.

With a total budget of 11.3 billion won, the project aims to create a shared space for Kakao affiliates with the nature of a training center. A Kakao official said, "We are carrying out a project to prepare a space necessary for internal purposes of the Kakao community," adding, "We judged that it is appropriate for Kakao IX, which has expertise in space planning, design, and operation, to lead this project."