"Naver, No Share Sale If There Is Will to Protect Employees"
"Worked with Pride... Unfair Pressure from Japan to Sell Shares"
Oh Seyoon, head of the Naver Labor Union branch, raised his voice regarding the Line Yahoo incident, stating, "It is not right to hand over services that can shape the future of the Republic of Korea for unjust reasons."
On the 14th, Oh appeared on SBS Radio's 'Kim Taehyun's Political Show' and said, "I have worked with pride in creating a global service," adding, "If it ultimately means handing over the members and leaving only money, who would work for a global service? If Naver has the will to protect its members, it should not proceed with the share sale."
Line is a messenger service mainly used not only in Japan but also in Southeast Asian regions including Taiwan, Thailand, and Indonesia. However, after the Line personal information leak issue surfaced in November last year, the Japanese government conducted two administrative guidances for the operator Line Yahoo in March and April this year. The Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications demanded management system improvements, including a "reexamination of the capital relationship with Naver," leading to widespread criticism that it is effectively trying to take away Line Yahoo's management rights from Naver.
Regarding this, Oh pointed out that it is unfair for the Japanese government to pressure Naver to adjust its shares citing security incidents. He said, "We are fully responsible for the technology and have been recognized for our know-how in technology management," adding, "The solution to (technology incidents) cannot be reducing the shares of the company responsible for the technology; instead, there should be discussions on how to complement the technology."
Oh also conveyed that employee unrest at Naver is growing in connection with this incident. He explained, "The share sale means that about 2,500 members, including Korea's Line Plus, which is creating the Line service, will be entirely transferred to SoftBank," adding, "Since their technology and know-how will be transferred, they are also feeling job insecurity."
Oh criticized the government's initial response to the Line incident as inadequate. He said, "When the Japanese government used the expression 'reexamination of capital relations,' the government should have clearly stated the position that 'this is an issue arising from a partnership between two companies, so the government should not intervene and let the companies handle it themselves,'" adding, "Naver alone is under pressure from the Japanese government on a very uneven playing field."
Meanwhile, the Naver Labor Union officially expressed its opposition to the Line Yahoo share sale in a statement released the day before. The Naver union emphasized in the statement, "Protection of Line group members and the technology and know-how they have accumulated is the top priority," and argued, "The best choice to protect them is not to proceed with the share sale."
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