Kakao CEO Namkoong resigns in aftermath of service outage

Company's perceived bungling after data center fire drew public, government ire

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South Korean internet giant Kakao said on Oct. 19 that Namkoong Whon, one of its two CEOs, has stepped down. (Source photos by Getty Images and Yuki Kohara)

KIM JAEWON, Nikkei staff writer

SEOUL -- Namkoong Whon, one of South Korean internet giant Kakao's two CEOs, resigned on Wednesday as the company faced harsh criticism from the government and the public over the handling of a fire at a data center over the weekend that caused a massive service outage and led investors to dump shares.

The company, in a filing with the stock market, said that Hong Eun-taek will be Kakao's sole CEO, as Namkoong has stepped down. Namkoong was in charge of the company's business, while Hong has been focusing on environmental, social and governance issues.

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