Court Delivers Revised Mediation Decision to Kakao... Becomes 'Final' If No Further Objections

Kakao has filed an objection to the court's compulsory mediation decision ordering it to "express regret over the blackout incident." In response, the court confirmed that it delivered a revised mediation decision reflecting Kakao's opinion on the 20th.

Photo by Asia Economy DB

On the 19th, Kakao submitted an objection to the compulsory mediation to the 3rd Mediation Division of the Seoul Southern District Court. On the 6th, the court had decided in compulsory mediation that Kakao should "express regret to KakaoTalk service users over the blackout incident and make efforts to prevent recurrence," but Kakao rejected this.

Accordingly, the court confirmed that on the following day, the 20th, it delivered a revised mediation decision reflecting Kakao's opinion back to Kakao. If the plaintiff side (Seomin Minsaeng Countermeasure Committee) does not file an additional objection, a formal trial will not proceed, and the decision will be finalized as per the mediation decision.

Compulsory mediation is a procedure in which the court, on its own authority, decides the terms of reconciliation between the plaintiff and defendant. If neither party raises an objection within two weeks after receiving the compulsory mediation document, it has the same effect as a judgment.

The court issued the first compulsory mediation decision targeting both parties on the 27th of last month, but the plaintiff side, Seomin Minsaeng Countermeasure Committee, filed an objection, preventing an agreement. Subsequently, in the second compulsory mediation decision made on the 6th of this month, the defendant side, Kakao, raised an objection, causing the agreement to fail again.

A Kakao official stated, "Rather than rejecting the part about expressing regret, we decided to file an objection because there is a difference in interpretation on that point," adding, "We received the revised mediation decision from the mediation department today. We understand that if there is no additional objection, the decision will be finalized as is."

Earlier, the Seomin Minsaeng Countermeasure Committee filed a damages lawsuit against Kakao regarding the 'KakaoTalk blackout incident' that occurred on October 15, 2022. The KakaoTalk blackout incident was caused by a fire at the SK C&C data center in Pangyo, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi Province, where Kakao's servers are installed, resulting in service disruptions for major services including KakaoTalk. It took approximately 127 hours and 30 minutes to restore the system to normal.