Labor Union of Naver Voices Opposition to Possible Stake Sale in Line Operator

People walk into the Tokyo Garden Terrace Kioi Tower, the building that houses LY Corp., in Tokyo, on May 9, 2024. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)

SEOUL, May 13 (Korea Bizwire) — The labor union of Naver Corp. on Monday voiced opposition to a possible sale of stake in the operator of the popular Line messenger app, saying protecting employees and technology concerning the app should be top priority for Naver.

Naver has been under pressure from the Japanese government to “review its capital relationship” in LY Corp., the operator of Line controlled by a joint venture between Naver and SoftBank of Japan, over a massive data leak of user information.

Both Naver and SoftBank confirmed that they have been in talks over a potential sale of stake in LY Corp. Last week, Naver said it was open to “all possibilities” with regard to the Japanese government’s administrative guidance.

“Protecting Line-related employees as technology and know-how they accumulated is top priority, and the best option to protect them is not to sell a stake,” the union said in a statement.

Naver has spared no efforts to develop the Line app as one of the popular messengers in global markets, the union said.

If Naver sells a stake in LY Corp. to SoftBank, employees of Line-related businesses would face “job insecurity,” the union said.

The union also asked the South Korean government to play a more “active” role to protect its companies from “unfair treatment” in overseas markets.

“SoftBank’s request to increase its shares as a response to a security breach incident is out of common sense and unreasonable,” it said.

Last week, LY President Takeshi Idezawa said in a conference call via an English interpreter that his company has requested Naver and SoftBank to review its capital structure and Shin Jung-ho, a key South Korean executive at LY, will step down from its board.

Shin, known as the “father” of Line in South Korea, was the only Korean national on LY’s board.

Japan’s actions drew criticism in South Korea, with many viewing them as an attempt to diminish foreign influence on the widely used online platform in the country.

(Yonhap)