The launch of the Bank Wallet Kakao service has been put off again until mid-November or later. The service would enable remittances of up to 100,000 won per day via the KakaoTalk mobile messenger.The remittance service is available for customers of the 16 commercial banks in Korea, excluding Korea
A fierce battle over cyber censorship is being waged in the parliamentary audit targeting the Seoul Public Prosecutors' Office and District Prosecutor's Offices on Oct. 16. In particular, Daum Kakao CEO Lee Sir-goo, who is embroiled in the controversy over cyber surveillance, testified at the audit
Doosan Group Chairman Park Yong-maan, who is using social networking services (SNSs) for communication, closed his KakaoTalk account and moved to Telegram.According to business circles on Oct. 15, the growing controversy surrounding government surveillance made Chairman Park leave a message on his K
The necessity of social consensus is emerging in the wake of Daum Kakao’s announcement that it will no longer comply with the government’s wiretapping warrants on its users. Daum Kakao announced on Oct. 13 that it will take extra measures on full scale to protect the privacy of the users. The compan
The National Intelligence Service (NIS) has been found to have carried out most of the packet monitoring on messenger services such as KakaoTalk and Naver Line.Democratic United Party lawmaker Jun Byung-hyun, a member of the Science, ICT, Future Planning, Broadcasting and Communications Committee of
German-based messaging app Telegram, which has emerged as a cyber asylum for Koreans, launched an official Korean app to target the Korean market.After recruiting English-Korean translators on Oct. 2, Telegram posted a FAQ page in Korean, announcing its entry into the Korean market with the release
Milk Music, KakaoPay, and Telegram emerged as mobile services that can attract hundreds of thousands or even millions of subscribers in the blink of an eye. Users are flocking to those services. This phenomenon is getting a lot of attention, since it is occurring in tandem with relaxed government re
An increasing number of Internet users are opting for foreign messengers instead of domestic ones in the wake of the establishment of the defamation investigation team at the Public Prosecutors’ Office. Although the prosecution said that the team does not mean censorship, civic organizations held a
As Daum Communications and Kakao are embroiled in disputes of political ideology ahead of their merger, many are calling for maintaining neutrality. Daum is generally acknowledged to be skewed to the left on the political spectrum, whereas Kakao was previously caught up in controversy over using the
Social trading, stock trading linked with social networking services (SNS), is evolving. A stock trading service via the Stock Plus for the Kakao application started in August, and a ranking service will be introduced on Sept. 26.According to the financial investment industry on Sept. 22, the Stock
On Sept. 23, Kakao announced that the number of KakaoPay subscribers have exceeded 500,000 people, only 19 days after the launch of its mobile payment service.As a KakaoTalk version of Bank Wallet, this service allows users to make a payment just by entering a password on a mobile device, after regi
Internet phones have become a must-have for students studying abroad, and are getting more and more popular among Koreans residing in foreign countries. Internet phones have become portable thanks to the tethering functions to use smartphones as WiFi.In this situation, cable broadcasting company t-b
Fair Trade Commission Chairman Roh Dae-rae pointed out that Kakao’s gift voucher business could cause a problem.“We are currently carrying out an investigation as to the legitimacy of the business,” he said during a press conference on August 28, adding, “It could cause a problem with regard to the
Emoticons used in mobile messenger apps like Line and KakaoTalk are working up to business items, moving beyond just a communications method. As emoticons are used in not only cell phones but also dolls, diaries, bakeries, and animation, they are evolving as another content industry. Emoticons for m
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has launched an investigation into allegations of unfair business practices by Kakao.According to industry sources on August 28, the country’s anti-trust regulator is investigating the fact that Kakao unilaterally terminated its contract with mobile coupon provi
From mid-September, iPhone users can trade stocks through Stock Plus for Kakao, a stock-trading app linked to KakaoTalk.As KakaoTalk stock trading services, which are integrated with the company's social networking service (SNS), will be officially available to both iOS and Android, the number of it
After two months in which people in China were unable to access the full features of Korean messaging apps KakaoTalk and Line, most services have reportedly been brought back online, aside from Kakao Story. However, services could be blocked again in the future, since the resumption of services has
It is hard to find anyone who reads newspapers or books at subway stations, airport terminals, and train stations in Beijing, China. Even employees over the age of 50 play games, read online novels, and watch TV shows with their mobile phones. Internet usage is more generalized in China than in the
A very committed Catholic, Mr. Kim was waiting for Pope Francis to pass by for hours, and managed to take a picture of the waving Pope with his mobile phone.Mr. Kim, very excited to show off to his friends through KakaoTalk, was unable to do so. He realized that his mobile phone had no signal, and h
Naver is holding digital hands with SBI, the largest online financial company in Japan, to accelerate the convergence between finance and information technology. The evolution of social network banking is picking up speed in the form of Bank Wallet Kakao, which is a KakaoTalk messenger service avail