Kakao could be probed by government for possible market monopoly, Report

Kakao may be investigated as the South Korean government would like to check if the company has monopolized the market. The country’s President, Yoon Suk Yeol, told the press that if found to be true, the authorities will act accordingly and take necessary measures

As per Korea Joongang Daily, the president also said that he respects the rules of a free market that assures business freedom and creativity. However, it is a different thing if the market is not operating on a reasonable and fair system.

"If the market has been distorted due to monopoly and [the company's service] has become a nationwide infrastructure, then the state must take necessary measures for the good of the people," Pres. Yoon said. "I was told that the Fair Trade Commission is reviewing such matters."

The talks of investigation on Kakao surfaced following the nationwide service outage last weekend. All of the tech firm’s services were cut off when a fire broke out at the SK C&C building, which houses its data center. Users were not able to access any of Kakao’s services for more than a day.

“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused by this accident, and we are currently doing our best to normalize the service,” Kakao Community Center’s head, Hong Eun Taek, said in a statement. “In addition to preparing intensive measures to prevent a recurrence, we plan to prepare a compensation policy for those affected by this accident.”

At that time, Pres. Yoon said the government would coordinate with the National Assembly to prevent further damage to users. Some of Naver’s services were also affected, but Kakao suffered more extensively.

Meanwhile, Kakao's meltdown was said to have also raised major questions regarding its crisis management abilities and expertise. The president mentioned on Sunday, Oct. 16, that the disturbance on Kakao's network could even become a threat to the nation’s security.

Kakao has yet to fully restore its services, but the basic services, such as text messaging on Kakao Talk, are already back. Many people rely on other Kakao apps, including mobile payment and navigation systems, but it is not certain if all of these could be restored soon, so there were reports that users were jumping to rival companies to avail of the affected services.