The union, a chapter of the Korean Chemical, Textile and Food Workers' Union, declared its opposition at a press conference held Wednesday following a rally to authorize a strike at Kakao Bank.
Kakao's board resolved on Aug. 21 to divide the company into Kakao AI, a new entity housing its artificial-intelligence platform business, and Kakao X, a surviving holding company overseeing investments and subsidiaries.
"A perception is widespread that the company's claim of enhanced corporate value simply will not hold up in practice," said Suh Seung-wook, head of the Kakao union chapter.
Suh said a credible reform plan addressing Kakao's existing problems should precede any split, adding that the current blueprint offers no concrete safeguards. He stressed the union was not opposing the division outright but rejecting one pursued without a proper diagnosis of its causes or remedies.
The spin-off is subject to a special resolution at the extraordinary general meeting slated for Dec. 17, and the union intends to court major and minority shareholders to vote it down.
Suh said that excluding the controlling shareholder's stake of about 24 percent, opposition from more than a third of attending shareholders would sink the motion. The union would first press the National Pension Service to cast its shares against it.
The National Pension Service currently holds 5.4 percent of total shares for Kakao, the second largest shareholder.
The union also demanded joint bargaining across all affiliates to secure group-wide employment stability, and handed management a common set of demands covering management reform, job security and a revamped compensation system.
While a recent tentative wage agreement at Kakao's headquarters narrows the immediate scope for industrial action, the union left the door open to walkouts should the company refuse joint bargaining.
Kakao said the spin-off marked a significant change for its workforce and that it would continue to gather employee views and communicate with the union, while dismissing industry speculation that founder Kim Beom-su was involved, casting the move instead as a reckoning with a "post-Kim Beom-su" structure.
AJP Takeaways
• Kakao's labor union said on Aug. 26, 2026 it will campaign to defeat the company's planned corporate split at an extraordinary shareholder meeting on Dec. 17, citing insufficient reform and job-security measures.
• Kakao's board resolved on Aug. 21, 2026 to divide the group into Kakao AI, a new artificial-intelligence platform company, and Kakao X, a surviving investment and subsidiary holding entity, effective Jan. 1, 2027
• The union plans to lobby the National Pension Service and minority shareholders to block the special resolution, and has demanded group-wide joint bargaining while leaving open the possibility of industrial action.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.
