Taiwan Says Moving 40% of Semiconductor Production to the U.S. Is Impossible 
SpaceX Pivots Toward Moon City as Musk Reframes Long-Term Space Vision 
Australian Household Spending Dips in December as RBA Tightens Policy 
Asian Markets Surge as Japan Election, Fed Rate Cut Bets, and Tech Rally Lift Global Sentiment 
Bank of Japan Signals Readiness for Near-Term Rate Hike as Inflation Nears Target 
TrumpRx Website Launches to Offer Discounted Prescription Drugs for Cash-Paying Americans 
Japan Economy Poised for Q4 2025 Growth as Investment and Consumption Hold Firm 
U.S. Stock Futures Rise as Markets Brace for Jobs and Inflation Data 
Trump Lifts 25% Tariff on Indian Goods in Strategic U.S.–India Trade and Energy Deal 
India–U.S. Interim Trade Pact Cuts Auto Tariffs but Leaves Tesla Out 
Gold and Silver Prices Rebound After Volatile Week Triggered by Fed Nomination 
Indian Refiners Scale Back Russian Oil Imports as U.S.-India Trade Deal Advances 
DBS Expects Slight Dip in 2026 Net Profit After Q4 Earnings Miss on Lower Interest Margins 
SoftBank Shares Slide After Arm Earnings Miss Fuels Tech Stock Sell-Off 
Uber Ordered to Pay $8.5 Million in Bellwether Sexual Assault Lawsuit 
Asian Currencies Stay Rangebound as Yen Firms on Intervention Talk 
Missouri Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Challenging Starbucks’ Diversity and Inclusion Policies 
Kakao is currently dealing with the aftermath of the service outage that paralyzed all of the services the company is offering. The incident created extensive business disruptions in South Korea, and the company was also placed in a tight spot as its operations are now being investigated as well.
The effects of the service outage last weekend apparently ran very deep and unexpected. Kakao’s services were cut after a fire broke out at the data center of SK C& C in Pangyo, Seongnam, in Gyeonggi-do province. The tech firm’s servers are housed here, so people were not able to use the KakaoTalk messenger and other Kakao services on Saturday afternoon until the next day.
Some of the services were back after 10 hours, but there are still others that have yet to be fully restored. The company said the service recovery took a long time because the devices used for the distribution of functions of the servers to other places were set up properly.
In any case, with the large-scale chaos caused by the service outage, the chief executive officers of Kakao announced their resignation on Wednesday, Oct. 19. Namkoong Whon, the co-CEO said he is leaving to take responsibility for the incident. He also promised to complete a backup system in two months to make sure the outage would not happen again.
As per The Korea Times, as Namkoong steps down from his chief role, he will now lead Kakao’s disaster response sub-committee. On the other hand, co-CEO Hong Eun Taek will remain in his post so he will be the sole leader of the company now. Hong will also serve as head of Kakao's emergency committee.
"Currently, most of our services have been normalized but we have caused great inconvenience for a lengthy period of time as our response did not meet the expectations of users," he said during a press conference. "I feel heavy-hearted when I think of users and our partners who use Kakao services such as those who had difficulty communicating, drivers who could not receive calls, and business owners who were unable to use our advertising channels.”
Namkoong further said, “I also found that the concerns of the authorities are greater than ever and we will do our best to regain the trust of users."
