20241113 TeA Rise and fall of Kakao img

Founder Kim Beom-su took Kakao into a wide range of businesses, but headwinds are now hitting the group. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Reuters and AP) 

Kakao: Can South Korea's symbol of innovation regain its shine?

Legal woes and growing public antipathy have rocked internet platform

SEOUL -- One Saturday afternoon around two years ago, South Koreans were thrown into a panic when internet platform Kakao suddenly stopped its services due to an outage at a data center. The disruption lasted 24 hours and caused chaos, with tens of millions of users unable to withdraw money, buy groceries on e-commerce platforms, hail taxis or send messages to family and friends.

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