Kakao shares stoop after widespread service outage By Reuters

By Joyce Lee

SEOUL (Reuters) -Shares in South Korea’s Kakao Corp plunged greater than 9% on Monday after a hearth at an information centre south of Seoul broken servers on the weekend, inflicting an intensive service outage within the nation’s important chat app.

The outage of the chat app, predominantly utilized in South Korea for each non-public and enterprise exchanges, in addition to providers together with funds and present exchanges, taxi hailing, maps and log-in entry for different apps, crippled communications in Asia’s fourth-largest economic system.

President Yoon Suk-yeol mentioned on Monday that Kakao’s providers are “like a elementary nationwide telecommunications community so far as the general public is worried,” and follow-up measures over the service outage will probably be pursued.

“If the market is distorted in a monopoly or extreme oligopoly, to the extent the place it serves an identical operate as nationwide infrastructure, the federal government ought to take crucial measures for the sake of the individuals,” Yoon added, noting South Korea’s antitrust watchdog would look at the matter.

Kakao shares fell to its lowest since Might 2020, whereas shares in Kakao associates KakaoPay and KakaoBank additionally plunged greater than 8% in morning commerce.

A Kakao spokesperson instructed Reuters on Monday providers equivalent to messaging have been restored, however miscellaneous providers are nonetheless being restored.

Police and the Nationwide Forensic Service plan to conduct their second examination on Monday on the knowledge centre, which is operated by SK C&C.

After an preliminary probe on Sunday, police mentioned electrical points round battery racks in third basement flooring might have brought on the hearth.

Kakao’s messenger app Kakao Discuss has greater than 47 million lively accounts in South Korea and 53 million globally, the corporate mentioned in a report in August.

Kakao mentioned on Monday the monetary results of a widespread service outage have been anticipated to be restricted on Kakao and its key items.