Line Yahoo's 'Escape from Naver' Accelerates... "Outsourcing Ends Next Year"

Network Separation Scheduled for Completion in March 2026

Line application (app) operator Line Yahoo has reported to Japanese authorities that it will terminate its outsourcing contract with Naver by the end of next year, after receiving administrative guidance from the Japanese government to review its capital relationship with Naver due to information leakage issues.

In a “Recurrence Prevention Measures and Progress Report” submitted to the Personal Information Protection Commission of Japan on the 28th, Line Yahoo stated that it aims to end outsourcing to Naver and Naver Cloud by the end of next year, and to terminate outsourcing to other Naver group companies by March next year.

It was announced that the network separation, including authentication-based separation from Naver, will be completed by March 2026. This is about nine months earlier than the original plan of December 2026. Line Yahoo also stated that it “will accelerate the implementation of recurrence prevention measures currently underway or planned.”

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Takeshi Idezawa, CEO of Line Yahoo, said at last month’s earnings briefing, “We will sequentially proceed with terminating outsourcing to Naver,” and “We will pursue independence from Naver in terms of technical cooperation.” At that time, he did not specify the exact timing of the termination but mentioned that it would be announced in July.

This report follows the recommendation by the Personal Information Protection Commission of Japan in March to promptly correct technical and organizational safety management deficiencies and report on progress. Separately, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications issued administrative guidance to Line Yahoo twice, on March 5 and April 16, demanding a review of the equity relationship with Naver. The deadline for the report requested by the Ministry is July 1.