[Special Stock] KakaoPay Hits New Low... Group Stocks Fall Together Amid Heavy Fine

Kakao Bank, Kakao, and Kakao Games Also Decline
151 Billion Won Fine for Kakao Due to Personal Data Leak
Largest Fine Ever Imposed on a Domestic Company

Kakao Pay has hit a new low. Following the imposition of the largest-ever fine on Kakao by the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC), Kakao affiliates are showing a simultaneous downturn.

As of 9:15 a.m. on the 24th, Kakao Pay is trading at 32,150 KRW, down 3.45% (1,150 KRW) from the previous day. It even dropped to 31,700 KRW shortly after the market opened. This price breaks below the all-time low of 32,450 KRW recorded in April. It is the lowest stock price since its listing in November 2021.

Other Kakao group stocks are also falling together. Kakao (-1.65%), KakaoBank (-1.94%), and KakaoGames (-1.15%) are all showing downward trends.

The day before, the PIPC imposed a fine of 15.1 billion KRW and a penalty of 7.8 million KRW, citing multiple personal information leaks due to security vulnerabilities in KakaoTalk. This is the largest fine ever imposed on a domestic company for violating personal information protection regulations. Hackers exploited vulnerabilities in KakaoTalk’s Open Chat feature to obtain user information, accessing at least 65,000 personal data records. It was also revealed that hackers extracted user information by using functions such as KakaoTalk’s friend addition feature. Kakao stated that the information combined and used by the hackers was not leaked from the company itself, differing from the facts the company has identified, and announced that it is considering various legal actions, including administrative lawsuits.