Kakao workers stage first walkout in company's history over bonus and profit-sharing dispute
Around 600 unionised workers at Kakao Corp staged the first walkout in the company's history on 10 June 2026, demanding higher performance bonuses and profit sharing after government-mediated wage talks broke down, weeks after Samsung Electronics settled a similar dispute.
- Around 600 Kakao workers staged the company's first-ever walkout near its Pangyo headquarters on 10 June 2026
- Union demands 13 to 14 per cent of last year's operating profit and restricted stock units in the bonus pool
- Action follows Samsung's ratification of an uncapped semiconductor bonus deal that averted an 18-day strike
Unionised workers at Kakao Corp staged the first walkout in the company's history on Wednesday, 10 June 2026, demanding higher performance bonuses and a share of the firm's profits, according to a report by South Korean news agency Yonhap.
The walkout and accompanying rally were held near the messaging app operator's headquarters in Pangyo, south of Seoul, from 10:00 to 15:00 local time.
Industry sources cited by Yonhap said around 600 union members from five Kakao units were expected to take part, comprising the company's headquarters and affiliates Kakao Pay, Kakao Enterprise, DK Techin and XLGAMES.
Mediation collapse cleared path for industrial action
The walkout follows the formal suspension of mediation by the Gyeonggi Regional Labor Relations Commission on 27 May 2026, after a second session lasting more than eight hours failed to produce an agreement.
The suspension granted the union — the Kakao chapter of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) National Chemical Fiber and Food Industry Union — the legal right to launch industrial action, including a strike.
The union had applied for mediation on 7 May 2026 after wage talks with management broke down. A first mediation session on 18 May also ended without agreement.
Following the suspension, a union official signalled that industrial action was imminent. "We plan to strike in June," the official said at the time, adding that the form and method had yet to be decided.
The union is also pushing for a redesign of Kakao's compensation structure, calling for restricted stock units worth 5 million won (approximately US$3,300) to be incorporated into the official bonus pool.
Union demands centre on profit sharing and equity
Unionised workers are reportedly seeking performance-based incentives equivalent to 13 to 14 per cent of the company's operating profit for the previous year.
The union is also pushing for a redesign of Kakao's compensation structure, calling for restricted stock units worth 5 million won (approximately US$3,300) to be incorporated into the official bonus pool.
Management has so far declined to accept the demands, arguing that they could place what it described as a "huge burden" on the company's operations.
Industry watchers cited in the Yonhap report said the walkout was expected to have a limited effect on Kakao's services, including its flagship messenger KakaoTalk, as core services are largely automated and essential personnel remained on duty.
"We will prepare necessary response systems and do our utmost to ensure stable service operations," a Kakao management official said.
Walkout follows Samsung's eleventh-hour settlement
The Kakao action comes two weeks after a parallel dispute at Samsung Electronics was resolved, highlighting growing labour tensions across South Korea's technology sector amid record profits from the artificial intelligence (AI) boom.
On 27 May 2026, Samsung's two largest unions ratified a wage agreement granting an uncapped special performance bonus equivalent to 10.5 per cent of the chip division's business performance earnings.
That agreement was reached on 20 May, roughly an hour before an 18-day strike was due to begin — an action that would have ranked among the most significant in Samsung's history.
Of the 62,616 eligible union members, 95.5 per cent voted in the six-day ratification ballot, with 73.7 per cent approving the deal.
The Samsung bonuses will be paid in company stock over a minimum of ten years, contingent on the chip division exceeding annual operating profit targets of 200 trillion won (US$132 billion) between 2026 and 2028.
Based on forecasts of consolidated operating profit reaching 300 trillion won in 2026, individual payouts for the roughly 28,000 semiconductor division employees could reach 600 million won, or approximately US$400,000.
The two disputes share a common driver: workers in South Korea's technology sector seeking a larger share of earnings generated during the current AI-driven boom, and pressing for compensation structures tied directly to company performance.
Whereas the Samsung dispute was settled before industrial action commenced, the breakdown of mediated talks at Kakao has now produced the first walkout in the company's history.
