[Exclusive] Kakao's Kim Jeong-ho: "Flood of Corruption and Misconduct Reports, Investigation Without Sanctuary"

Kim Jeong-ho Kakao Head of Management Support
"So many reports that investigation is unavoidable"

Kim Jeong-ho, the head of management support at the CA Council who is leading Kakao's reform efforts, stated that there are no sacred cows in the ongoing internal audit based on whistleblower reports. He explained that this includes Kim Beom-su, Kakao's founder and chairman of the management reform committee.

On the 30th, in a phone interview with this publication, when asked whether there are any exceptions in the audit targets, including the founder Kim, Kim replied, "Everything is included in the whistleblower reports," adding, "Everyone, including myself, is subject to the audit." He also said, "The reports have been flooding in so much that there is no way not to investigate," and "Some people even provided entire PPT files, as well as messages from personal KakaoTalk, Facebook Messenger, and emails."

Since September, Kim has joined the CA Council, the group's control tower, taking charge of personnel and audits across the Kakao community. He was recruited after three earnest visits by Chairman Kim. He is also a member of the recently established external oversight body, the 'Compliance and Trust Committee' (Junshinwi), and is the only internal Kakao member on the committee. Although a close aide to the founder, he is not entangled in internal company interests, making him a figure capable of fearlessly scrutinizing Kakao, including the founder himself. Before joining the company, he stated, "Founder Kim wanted a thorough investigation of Kakao's personnel and audit aspects and hoped that any wrongdoings would be boldly corrected."

Initially, he declined but explained, "After hearing stories about management or close associates receiving disproportionate compensation, opaque work processes, unchecked dominance by certain departments, peculiar culture, widespread distrust and cynicism, issues with recreational and childcare facilities, problems with golf club memberships, corporate cards and external cooperation expenses, endless corruption reports related to large construction projects like IDC and performance halls, undervalued equipment sales, and opaque utilization of the Jeju headquarters site, the list was endless. I refused twice, but on the third time, after drinking for almost eight hours, I was pressured and finally agreed." He is currently working without pay. Instead, he requested that donations be made in the founder's name to Catholic Babonanum, Christian World Vision, and autism research at Harvard Medical School and MIT Medical School.

Currently, Kim is investigating internal Kakao issues based on whistleblower reports. During the investigation, a profanity incident occurred, and the controversy expanded during the explanation process. While sharing his experiences resolving Kakao's problems on Facebook, the company's lax management and poor decision-making processes were revealed in raw form.

Kim said, "I was completely subjected to character assassination during the process of verifying the reports," adding, "Posting on Facebook helped me recover somewhat, and I understand that Kakao employees are supporting me." According to Kim's close associates, he has recently been arriving at work every day at 7 a.m., canceling all year-end and New Year drinking appointments, and completely suspending external activities.

According to an anonymous poll conducted on the workplace anonymous community 'Blind,' 9 out of 10 Kakao employees sympathize with Kim's revelations. On the other hand, the Kakao labor union has requested an investigation by Junshinwi, labeling Kim's use of profanity as 'workplace harassment.' In response, Kim stated, "I do not agree that it constitutes workplace harassment, but I support an objective investigation by Junshinwi."

Kim plans to compile the internal whistleblower reports and conduct an audit through an external law firm. Junshinwi will soon complete its secretariat formation and begin full-scale activities. Kim said, "Although it is a corporate entity, (Junshinwi) will be operated as a completely extralegal organization."