Kakao CEO pledges to restore profits

JEJUDO ― Kakao CEO Rim Ji-hoon made his official debut on Tuesday, pledging to restore profits through more customized, mobile-based services.

“You cannot seek short-term profits in Internet services,” he said of the company’s sluggish sales in the first half of this year during a press conference held at the headquarters on Jejudo Island.

“In the next mobile era, all previously PC-based services will be available on mobile devices. We will lead the new era by offering more customized, ‘on-demand’ services. Then, profits will follow.”

Rim, 35, took the helm of the Korean Internet giant, which is best known for the immensely popular mobile messenger app KakaoTalk, in August at a time of ever-evolving mobile trends.

With his joining, formerly Daum Kakao started to be controlled under a single leadership since last year’s merger between Kakao and Daum, the nation’s No. 2 search engine.

In September, the company ditched “Daum” from its corporate name in a move to show its renewed commitment to mobile-based services.

He said Kakao will offer customized, mobile-based services in almost every sector, including media content, Web searching, gaming, ads and finance, with aims to connect mobile users via the Internet.

He especially pinned high hopes on the offline-to-online service such as its surging taxi-hauling app Kakao Taxi, saying the company was considering “all possibilities.”

“Consumer trust is the key to the offline-to-online service that affects our daily lives. We will continue to talk with stakeholder groups for future businesses,” he said.

He also pledged to seek a balance in relationship with the government. The company recently announced it could comply with government requests to hand over its KakaoTalk users data, reversing its previous stance.

“We will comply with the authorities only in limited cases for public safety. I think this is the most reasonable decision we can make,” he said.

Rim founded venture capital firm K Cube Ventures in 2012 that was acquired by Kakao in March this year. Prior to setting up his own venture, he had worked at NHN, Boston Consulting Group and SoftBank Ventures Korea.

Replacing the former co-CEOs Choi Sae-hoon, 48, and Lee Sir-goo, 49, he is a rare 30-something CEO even within the nation’s young IT scene.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)