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With strike votes at major affiliates — including Kakao’s headquarters — approved, the prospect of the company’s first-ever headquarters strike since its founding is becoming real. Some observers warn a prolonged labor dispute could weigh on AI service development and platform operations more broadly.
On May 20, the Kakao branch of the National Union of Chemical, Textile and Food Industry Workers said strike votes at five entities — Kakao headquarters, Kakao Pay, Kakao Enterprise, DK Techin, and XL Games — were approved.
Kakao’s headquarters is currently in mediation before the Gyeonggi Regional Labor Relations Commission, but the union held the strike vote before that process concluded. Last year, Kakao Mobility carried out a partial strike, but this would be the first time the company’s headquarters itself has gone on strike since the company was founded.
Industry observers view the Gyeonggi commission’s second mediation session, scheduled for the 27th, as a potential turning point. If mediation breaks down and Kakao’s headquarters secures the right to strike, the action could escalate into a full-scale strike across affiliates.
The union is reportedly weighing a range of collective actions beyond strikes, including slowdowns and work-to-rule campaigns. At the heart of the dispute are bonuses and the overall compensation system. The union says performance-based payouts have increasingly favored management, while the pool for regular employees’ bonuses has been reduced. At the rally, it criticized what it called a mismatch between executive rewards and employee compensation — noting that, despite record results, executives received short-term bonuses of about 150% while ordinary employee compensation declined — and said payments to outgoing CEOs and their continued appointments as advisers have deepened members’ frustration.
Meanwhile, the company says it will continue negotiations. Kakao said it will work toward an amicable agreement during the extended mediation period agreed to by both sides.
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