Kakao (035720.KS), the South Korean internet giant, has confirmed the reappointment of CEO Jung Shina and pledged to accelerate its artificial intelligence business.
Kakao said Wednesday that shareholders approved Jung's reappointment as an inside director at the company's 31st annual general meeting held at its headquarters in Jeju. The board of directors subsequently confirmed her as CEO, giving Jung a fresh two-year term through March 2028.
Since taking the helm as CEO in March 2024, Jung has focused on improving the company's fundamentals by restructuring the group and overhauling governance. She strengthened operational efficiency by realigning capabilities around core businesses for sustainable growth. The efforts have yielded financial results — Kakao surpassed 8 trillion won (approximately $5.8 billion) in annual consolidated revenue for the first time in its history and posted record-high operating profit in 2025.
Building on those accumulated capabilities, Kakao is now shifting its management strategy toward growth centered on AI and KakaoTalk, its flagship messaging platform. In AI, the company plans to significantly expand services based on user touchpoints established last year through "Kanana in KakaoTalk" and "ChatGPT for Kakao," enabling users to experience everyday convenience through AI agents.
"We will push forward with speed on our core business strategy, restructured around AI with KakaoTalk at the center," Jung said. "With AI presenting a new opportunity, we will build a differentiated agentic AI ecosystem unique to Kakao that the entire nation can access daily, and create business models to monetize it."
Kakao also plans to share the fruits of its growth with shareholders to enhance shareholder value and public trust. The company will reduce its share premium reserve by 100 billion won to expand distributable profits, while increasing total dividends by 10 percent year-on-year. Kakao also decided to retire more than half of its treasury shares. Senior executives have been actively purchasing Kakao shares, demonstrating shareholder-focused responsible management.
"We have set targets of more than 10 percent growth in consolidated revenue and an operating profit margin of 10 percent for 2026," Jung said. "During my term, I will do my utmost to deliver continued short-term earnings improvement while ensuring the growth potential shareholders expect translates into tangible results."
All other agenda items aimed at strengthening governance expertise and enhancing shareholder value also passed as proposed at the AGM. Cha Kyung-jin, a professor of management information systems at Hanyang University, was reappointed as an outside director, and Kim Young-jun, a professor at Korea University's Graduate School of Technology Management, was newly appointed. Kakao's board now comprises six members — two inside directors, Jung Shina and Shin Jong-hwan, and four outside directors: Ham Chun-seung, Cha Kyung-jin, Kim Sun-wook and Kim Young-jun.