(2nd LD) Unionized members at Kakao stage first-ever strike

SEOUL, June 10 (Yonhap) -- Unionized members at Kakao Corp. staged their first walkout in the company's history Wednesday, demanding higher bonuses and profit sharing.

The walkout and a rally took place near the messenger app operator's headquarters in Pangyo, south of Seoul, from 10 a.m., with around 1,500 members from five units of Kakao, including its headquarters, Kakao Pay and Kakao Enterprise, participating, according to the union.

Members marched around the company's headquarters alongside other IT companies in the area, holding white umbrellas.

The strike is expected to last around four hours until 3 p.m.

The move comes after the union and management failed to narrow differences in two rounds of wage talks mediated by the government last month.

Unionized members are reportedly demanding 13 to 14 percent of last year's operating profits as performance-based incentives. It is also seeking to redesign the compensation structure to include restricted stock units, a type of equity compensation, in the official bonus pool.

The members have argued in a statement released earlier that the management is offering excessive compensation only to its executives. It claimed that Kakao's executives saw their average wages rise by 32.2 percent from 2024 to 2025, when the average wage for employees only increased by 2.9 percent during the same period.

The management has yet to accept such demands, claiming they could put a "huge burden" on the company's operations.

The walkout, however, is expected to have a limited impact on Kakao's services, including the messenger app KakaoTalk, as core services are largely automated and essential personnel remain on duty to handle potential issues, according to industry watchers.

"We will prepare necessary response systems and do our utmost to ensure stable service operations," an official from Kakao's management said.

The union said it plans to stage another walkout, dubbed a "Log-off day," on June 29, without further elaborating.

"True reform at Kakao must come from the employees not the management," the union said.

Unionized members of Kakao Corp. stage a rally near the company's headquarter in Pangyo, south of Seoul, on June 10, 2026. (Yonhap)