Doosan Bears Superfan with the Highest Alcohol Tolerance in Pangyo... Kakao CEO's Sudden Self-Introduction [IT Cafe]

Kakao CEO Jeong Shina Steps Up to Revive KakaoTalk Pung
Pung Introduced in 2023... Similar to Instagram 'Stories'
User Response Remains Tepid... Hopes for a Turnaround with 'Discovery' Tab

"There are rumors that I have the highest alcohol tolerance near Pangyo. There are so many specific reports that it's more than just a rumor."

On July 24, Kakao CEO Jeong Shina unexpectedly boasted about her alcohol tolerance to her KakaoTalk friends. She used a feature called "Pung," which allows users to post short content on the KakaoTalk app for a limited period of time. She uploaded a brief self-introduction, confessing, "I'm actually a huge fan of the Doosan Bears, but since the team's performance in 2025 hasn't been good, I'm quite upset." She also described herself as a "capital T," strongly governed by rational thinking, but added, "My heart is warm and I embrace people." For her unique "effortless yet stylish" fashion, she chose a black shirt. She even revealed an adorable illustration, named "Sinazzyo," which features Kakao's popular character Jjorrdi with her own likeness.

Pung, introduced in 2023, is a feature that allows KakaoTalk users to share short content lasting a few seconds with their friends for a set period (12 hours, 24 hours, or 48 hours). It was designed to encourage lighthearted, witty communication about daily life. The feature is located at the top of the KakaoTalk friends tab; users can tap the plus button, add a photo or text, and then share it. You can choose to show the content only to selected friends, or keep it visible to yourself. Last year, a friend tagging feature was added. Up to 10 friends can be tagged, and those tagged receive a Pung message and can check the tag details. It is similar to the Stories feature on the social networking service Instagram.

However, considering KakaoTalk's monthly active user count (MAU) of 46 million, Pung's popularity has been relatively low. While a Kakao representative said, "It is quite popular among users under the age of 14, which is below Instagram's minimum sign-up age," no statistics or figures were provided to support this claim. This is why some analysts suggest that CEO Jeong's post is an attempt to revive Pung. Since Pung is located in a prominent spot in the friends tab of the KakaoTalk app, it is difficult to avoid criticism for its lack of notable achievements.

Kakao plans to launch a new "Discovery" tab within this year in an attempt to turn things around. The Discovery tab is expected to become the third main tab on KakaoTalk, replacing "Open Chat." According to a Kakao representative, "Users will be able to discover and explore a variety of content," and "We plan to offer short-form video content in a feed format, which is the current trend in content consumption." It is expected that users will be able to watch short videos continuously, similar to YouTube Shorts or Naver's Clip. Kakao anticipates that as more users enjoy content in the Discovery section, overall user engagement and time spent on the platform will increase. This is an effort to transform KakaoTalk from a simple messaging app into a platform where users stay longer to enjoy entertaining content.