The Kakao labor union has launched a campaign condemning the sale of AXZ, the operator of the Daum portal, and is calling for management to resign and for guarantees of job security.
On the 14th, the Kakao branch of the National Union of Chemical, Textile and Food Industry Workers (the Kakao union) issued a statement labeling AXZ CEO Yang Ju-il's conduct a \"deceptive exit\" and announced its plan to take action.
The union said Yang, at the time of the spin-off, vowed they were \"setting sail into a vast ocean,\" promising independent management and growth. It added that abandoning the crew—employees who trusted and devoted themselves to the company's future—and fleeing alone is the most extreme form of irresponsibility that Kakao's leadership can exhibit.
Earlier, Yang announced his resignation after less than a year following AXZ's launch as an independent company, once a share-swap sale to Upstage was agreed.
The union also raised questions about the responsibility of Kakao CEO Jeong Shin-a. It said the management's talk of \"reform\" had plainly become one-sided restructuring aimed at \"clearing out personnel\" and \"meeting financial targets,\" and warned that repeated spin-offs and sales, along with management's \"eat-and-run\" behavior, represent the greatest risk to the core value of the Kakao enterprise.
The union framed the incident as the opening salvo of restructuring that could spread across all Kakao affiliates and promised strong countermeasures. Specifically, it demanded △ full nullification and transparent disclosure of the sale process △ accountability from management and recovery of ill-gotten compensation △ a fight to secure employment and protect workers' livelihoods.
Seo Seung-wook, head of the Kakao branch, said, \"Today's AXZ could become all of our tomorrow,\" and added, \"We will take matters into our own hands to end Kakao's habit of treating workers' livelihoods as disposable.\"
Meanwhile, Yang is reportedly scheduled to resign at the end of the month, and Upstage announced on the 7th that it had finalized the acquisition of AXZ. Upstage plans to combine its in-house large language model (LLM) \"Sola\" with Daum's search technology and content data to develop an \"AI portal.\"
Reporter Na Yujin yujin@viva100.com
