Naver Financial and Kakao Pay Present 'New Leadership'

Park Sang-jin, Nominee for CEO of Naver Financial (left), Shin Won-geun, Nominee for CEO of Kakao Pay (right)

Naver Financial and Kakao Pay, the two giants of the domestic simple payment market, are appointing new leaders. With the heads of these big tech companies all changing, industry interest in their Season 2 is also rising.

According to Naver Financial on the 11th, Park Sang-jin, Naver's Chief Financial Officer (CFO), will be appointed as the new CEO through the regular shareholders' meeting on the 14th. Kakao Pay's Shin Won-geun is expected to be officially appointed after the shareholders' meeting on the 28th. Both appointees face the challenge of overcoming the controversies surrounding their predecessors who were involved in scandals and stabilizing their organizations. Choi In-hyuk, the former CEO of Naver Financial, stepped down amid responsibility for a workplace harassment incident at the headquarters, while Ryu Young-jun, the former CEO of Kakao Pay, resigned due to a 'stock exit controversy.' Both appointees also share the task of expanding their businesses and accelerating new growth engines.

Naver Financial has been continuously growing in scale and is considered a core affiliate within Naver. Last year, Naver Financial's revenue was 1.0453 trillion KRW, a 48.4% increase compared to the previous year. Park, who has a long history at Naver, is expected to settle in smoothly at Naver Financial. Since joining Naver in 1999, he has served as head of management, director of financial planning, and finance director, managing Naver's finances as a 'financial expert.' An insider familiar with Naver said, "Park has been involved since the early stages of the business, so a smooth landing is expected. He is friendly in daily life but meticulous, so he won't be an easy boss."

One of Park's biggest challenges is likely to be the MyData business, which was implemented this year. While commercial banks and card companies have all jumped into the MyData business, there is yet no standout player. Naver Financial has an advantage as it secures not only financial data but also non-financial data such as user consumption patterns within Naver. There is also a view that Naver Financial needs to demonstrate its independent presence. Unlike Kakao or Toss, which seek breakthroughs by directly entering the financial industry, Naver Financial is perceived to take only the 'safe path' through collaboration with traditional financial institutions.

Kakao Pay's Shin faces the major task of calming internal sentiment, especially since there was strong employee backlash against the executive team earlier this year. After being appointed CEO, Shin established 'Crewtong with Allen' to communicate with employees. Allen is Shin's English name within the company. Crewtong is a system where Kakao Pay employees can post questions and receive answers within 24 hours. Kakao Pay also formed a 'Trust Recovery Council.' Shin, along with Kakao Pay employees and the Kakao labor union, will attend to discuss ways to restore trust among Kakao Pay's shareholders and employees. Shin also faces the challenge of successfully driving projects for a second phase of growth, including global merchant expansion, stabilizing Kakao Pay Securities' Mobile Trading System (MTS), asset management services based on MyData, and launching a digital non-life insurance company.