Japan pressures Naver to sell 'Line' shares... Ministry of Foreign Affairs says "No discrimination against Korean companies"

The government stated on the 27th that "there should be no discriminatory measures against our companies" in response to the Japanese government's demand for Naver to divest its shares in the messenger application 'Line.'

Naver Line. [Photo by Line]

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued this response regarding the South Korean government's position on SoftBank's recent move, prompted by the Japanese government's request, to acquire Naver's shares in Line Yahoo, the operator of Line.

They added, "We will confirm Naver's position on this matter and communicate with the Japanese side if necessary."

According to Japanese media such as Kyodo News, SoftBank is negotiating to purchase Naver's shares in A Holdings, the intermediate holding company of Line Yahoo.

Line Yahoo is a company jointly owned 50-50 by Naver and Japan's SoftBank, providing services for Line, the popular Japanese messenger developed by Naver, and Yahoo, the largest portal site.

Naver and SoftBank each hold 50% of the shares in A Holdings, the major shareholder of Line Yahoo, making them the effective parent companies of Line Yahoo.

SoftBank's move to acquire Naver's shares in Line Yahoo came after the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications pointed out last month that Line Yahoo was overly dependent on Naver and lacked sufficient cybersecurity measures, issuing administrative guidance twice.

For this reason, Japanese media have analyzed that SoftBank acted in accordance with the Japanese government's strong demands.

Line, which started service in Japan in 2011, is currently the most widely used messenger app among Japanese people. About 80% of Japan's population (approximately 122 million) use Line, and the total number of Line users worldwide, including Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, and Indonesia, has reached 200 million.