South Korea's Kakao Entertainment Corporation, a division of mobile platform giant Kakao Corporation, is aiming for new growth through corporate restructuring and a closer relationship with global webtoon platform operator Kakao Piccoma.
During a town hall meeting with employees on Friday, Kakao Entertainment's two new co-chief executives, Kiss Kwen and Joseph Chan, announced that they will be managing music intellectual property (IP), drama and film production, and web production. He said he would reorganize the company's corporate structure to strengthen Thun. Related business.
The co-CEOs, who were appointed on Thursday, unveiled their business strategy and announced the creation of a new team focused on music IP business.
The new team, led by co-CEO Chan, will be responsible for handling music and artist IP.
The company said it will introduce artificial intelligence technology to its music platform “Melon” and strengthen its music distribution channels, including expanding its music business overseas.
In order to strengthen the competitiveness of its media business, Kakao Entertainment plans to separate its video business, which is responsible for producing and operating dramas and movies, as a company-in-company (CIC).
Strengthening cooperation with Piccoma
The company announced that it will strengthen its cooperation with Kakao Piccoma, which operates webtoon and web novel platforms in Japan and France, in order to secure webtoon IP globally.
Kakao Piccoma, a Japanese subsidiary of Kakao Japan Co., Ltd., launched Piccoma in Japan in April 2016 and provides web comics and web novels from Japan, South Korea, China, the United States, and other countries through its app and website. Kakao Piccoma launched Piccoma France in March 2022.
In Japan, Piccoma is the country's top online webtoon and manga subscription service provider.
Kakao Entertainment has so far focused on expanding its scale through mergers and acquisitions. However, going forward, the company will pursue more efficient and sustainable organic growth, the co-chief executives said as they announced a new business slogan: “Beyond content.”
Prior to assuming the role of co-CEO, Mr. Kweong was the company's chief operating officer and head of its music content business.
Prior to joining Kakao Entertainment, he served as Chief Financial Officer at Daum Communications.
Mr. Chan, the other co-CEO, previously served as Kakao Entertainment's global head of strategy.
Prior to joining the company in 2021, he served as CEO of Sony Music Entertainment Korea and co-CEO of Sony Music Entertainment's Asia Hub.
Write destination Lee Joo Hyun 2juhyun@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.