[Asia Economy Reporter Eunju Lee] Following the near paralysis of the weekend due to the Kakao service 'blackout' incident, an increasing number of users are expressing their intention to leave Kakao services. Not only small business owners who suffered various damages while conducting economic activities using the Kakao platform, but also the majority of citizens who have been making appointments and interacting through KakaoTalk, as well as users who have been using KakaoBank as a primary financial app for asset management, are each seeking 'alternative apps,' voicing their desire to reduce their dependence on Kakao services.
On the 15th, a fire broke out at the SK C&C Center (SK Pangyo Campus) in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province, where Kakao's servers are located. Due to the fire, the power to Kakao's servers housed in the data center was cut off, causing service disruptions. Most services, including KakaoTalk, the 'national messenger app,' as well as KakaoMap, KakaoPay, Kakao Mobility, and Kakao Games, were almost completely suspended. However, since KakaoBank's data center is located outside Pangyo in a dedicated financial data center, most services except for some related to Kakao, such as simple transfers and group accounts, continued to operate.
As most services that have dominated users' daily lives failed to operate fully throughout the weekend, users began considering alternatives to Kakao. Citizens who rely on the Kakao platform for economic activities experienced various damages and inconveniences due to the Kakao outage and started looking for alternative apps. With KakaoTalk down all weekend, users whose smooth communication was blocked showed signs of switching to alternative messenger apps like Line. As of 10 a.m. on the 17th, Line, a competitor messenger app to KakaoTalk, ranked first on the Google Play Store's popularity chart. Office worker Jeongyeop Lee (age 30) said, "This incident made me realize that we should no longer rely solely on KakaoTalk for communication," adding, "When the KakaoTalk app stopped working, I felt anxious and immediately installed Line."
Users who have conducted economic activities using the Kakao platform are also contemplating 'leaving Kakao.' An employee of a small business that linked company emails with Daum and Kakao Mail said, "It became difficult to use email, causing work disruptions. Since the same incident could happen again, I plan to suggest to the company that we find alternative services." Small business owners who provided payment services through KakaoPay also expressed concerns. One small business owner said, "There was significant inconvenience as KakaoPay payment failures continued during the golden business hours on weekend evenings." Small business owners who have selected store music through Kakao's Melon service also said, "We relied solely on Melon, so the minor inconveniences were significant. Given the situation, we are considering subscribing to YouTube Music's paid service."
There are also signs of user departure from KakaoBank. Since KakaoBank's servers are not located in Pangyo, there was no disruption in the use of core services. However, services connected to KakaoTalk, such as group accounts and simple transfers, did not operate. Nevertheless, through online communities, some users are linking Kakao's disruption to concerns about the stability of KakaoBank's servers. One user said, "I canceled the KakaoPay account linkage and withdrew all money from KakaoBank. I also withdrew all the money I had in the KakaoBank Safe Box," adding, "Because I don't know if something might happen to KakaoBank again, I plan to transfer all my money to commercial banks first." Another user said, "This incident made me think that traditional banks are superior in terms of stability," adding, "I had considered KakaoBank my main bank because of convenience, but now I have decided that this is not acceptable going forward."
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