Kakao (035720.KS) said on the 20th that it will strengthen its culture of voluntary compliance and further upgrade its Compliance Program (CP), centered on employee participation and practical use, as the program marks its second anniversary.
The company said it had shared the results of the CP’s two years of operation, along with its future direction, across the entire firm.
Chey Jung-shin, Kakao’s chief executive, said in a recent internal notice that the company had “systematically organized fair-trade rules and policies over the past two years and built a system to proactively review and manage risks that can arise in the course of business.” Chey added, “Going forward, we will regularly review the CP’s operations and results, and continue to refine it so that the necessary systems and support work effectively on the ground.”
Since first introducing the CP in August 2024, Kakao has built up its foundation for voluntary fair-trade compliance step by step, including revising rules and operating frameworks and establishing a risk assessment system.
In June, in particular, the company created a dedicated fair-trade page within its sustainability website and unveiled a “Fair Trade Practice Declaration,” signaling its commitment externally. From the second half of this year, it has also clearly built compliance standards — such as advance review of legal risks and adherence to laws and internal policies — into its leader evaluation criteria, sharply strengthening the function of managing legal risks in advance across the organization.
Kakao is also expanding training and support to build employees’ practical capabilities. It has produced and distributed a “Compliance Handbook” to help apply the rules on the job, and regularly issues department-tailored training and newsletters. Beginning this year, in addition to existing online training, it has held seven offline specialized sessions on topics such as consent decrees, unfair internal transactions and the Subcontracting Act.
Kakao also plans to accelerate the voluntary spread of a fair-trade culture in the second half by rolling out various participatory events centered on “LET’S CP,” an internally crowdsourced brand, and by running the “Kakao Compliance Awards,” which recognize outstanding organizations and crews (employees) for their practices.
Chang Young-shin, Kakao’s compliance operations performance leader, said, “In the second half as well, we plan to keep upgrading the CP so that a culture of voluntary compliance settles naturally into daily work.” Chang added, “By drawing on the strengths of an IT company, we will improve the accessibility and usability of the Compliance Handbook and build an environment where members can easily understand and practice fair trade.”