Kakao forms IP subcommittee for webtoon, entertainment units

Kakao founder Kim Beom-su speaks at a company meeting held at the company's headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, on Dec. 11 2023. [YONHAP]

Kakao formed a new content-related intellectual property (IP) subcommittee for its affiliates in the webtoon and entertainment businesses to bolster its presence in the global market.

The subcommittee operates under the Kakao Corporate Alignment (CA) Council, which devises corporate strategies and oversees Kakao’s subsidiaries.

Employees from content-related affiliates, such as Kakao Entertainment and Kakao Piccoma, Kakao’s Japanese webtoon unit, joined the committee to strengthen synergy in developing its IP business in line with the company’s vision for global expansion.

Kim Beom-su, founder of Kakao and co-chairman of the CA Council, announced in March 2022 that the company aimed to generate more than 30 percent of its total revenue from overseas.

Kakao Entertainment planned to boost its presence in the global content market, focusing on North America, India, Europe and Asean countries, aiming to triple its global transaction volume in 2024.

However, that plan stalled after the company became embroiled in investigations and regulatory trouble involving its stake acquisition in the K-pop agency SM Entertainment last year.

Kakao Entertainment operates various webtoon and web novel platforms globally, such as Kakao Webtoon and Kakao Page in Korea, Tapas in North America and Piccoma in Japan and France.

Kakao Piccoma became the top manga app publisher globally in terms of consumer spending last year, with an annual expenditure of $870 million, according to market researcher data.ai.

A Kakao spokesperson confirmed the existence of a new project team on Tuesday but declined to provide details.

“As it’s part of our internal strategy, it’s difficult to provide specifics,” she said.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]