Kakao Appoints Jung Gyudon, Former Kakaobank CTO, as New CTO

Kakao has appointed Jeong Gyung-don, former Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of KakaoBank, as the CTO of its headquarters.

Jeong Gyudon, former CTO of KakaoBank
[Photo by KakaoBank]

According to the IT industry on the 4th, Jeong Sin-ah, the appointed CEO of Kakao and head of the reform task force (TF), held an open talk with employees last week and shared this information.

At the meeting, Jeong said, "We will reorganize the organizational structure to grant responsibility and authority to young leaders with expertise, enhancing immersion and efficiency in their work." He introduced the appointed CTO Jeong as a leader with a high level of technical understanding of Kakao's complex services and experience in establishing technological stability in the primary financial sector.

Jeong, the appointed CTO, joined KakaoBank in 2016 after working at Kakao. He led the mobile-first strategy and developed the KakaoBank app. He resigned as KakaoBank CTO in February last year due to personal reasons.

Some express dissatisfaction over appointing a former executive involved in a 'meok-twi' controversy as the next CTO. After KakaoBank's IPO, Jeong exercised stock options and earned an estimated capital gain of around 7 billion KRW. Some Kakao employees are concerned that founder Kim Beom-su and the management, who promised to accelerate management reform, are repeating 'revolving door personnel' practices.