2024-05-12 03:50:55
The level of criticism from domestic politicians is increasing over the hard-line remarks of Japanese far-right politicians surrounding Line Yahoo and the repeated administrative guidance of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
If it escalates into a political issue between Korea and Japan, it could spark a fire in Naver’s (035420) webtoon service and Zepeto, a metaverse platform that is popular in Japan, which seems to be aggravating concerns.
This is because these services are representative B2C (Business to Customer) businesses, so if anti-Korean sentiment increases, the stable trend may be shaken.
According to the industry on the 12th, Naver announced the previous day that it was open to all possibilities related to Japan’s Line Yahoo and was in good faith discussions with Softbank. The statement that the possibility of selling shares is also being considered is interpreted to mean that related discussions with SoftBank are continuing.
It has been pointed out that the Southeast Asian line business must be maintained along with the sale of shares, but the burden on Naver is increasing due to the ongoing political offensive from both Korea and Japan.
Previously, Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications implemented the first and second administrative guidance targeting the line in March and April. During this time, in early April, strong comments targeting Line poured out among Japanese far-right politicians and cabinet officials.
In an interview with Japanese media, Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s Minister of Special Affairs in the Cabinet Office, known as the ‘female Abe’, said, “I do not use the Line service,” and added, “Line Yahoo is fundamentally reviewing its management system and security management system. “It needs to be done,” he said.
An official from the Japanese Prime Minister’s Office also said in an interview with the Weekly Bunshun (Shukan Bunshun), “The dependence on Naver, which has been neglected by Line Yahoo Chief Product Officer (CPO) Shin Joong-ho and Line Yahoo CEO Takeshi Idezawa, is adjacent to the risk of economic security.” “The government is taking a strict stance toward IT companies, but the companies are also cooperative with the government, so there are endless concerns about Japanese people’s personal information being used by Korea,” he pointed out.
Accordingly, criticism directed at the Yoon Seok-yeol government and the Japanese government continued regardless of the domestic ruling and opposition parties. Even within the ruling party’s People Power Party, there were voices calling for protecting domestic companies’ overseas investments, and the Democratic Party of Korea issued a hard-line statement calling it ‘condescending diplomacy’.
As the level of pressure from the political world is expected to increase, the burden on Naver appears to be increasing.
This is because it could spark a firestorm in services targeting Japanese consumers, such as webtoon and metaverse platforms.
An industry official said, “Controversy over the nationality of tech companies such as TikTok or Chinese e-commerce is a factor that can easily lead consumers to boycott.” He added, “If political offensives intensify and Korea and Japan face off strongly, Naver’s services could also be affected. “This is not something that should be welcomed by Naver, which focuses on exporting technologies such as B2C services, generative artificial intelligence (AI), and cloud,” he said.
(Seoul = News 1)
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2024-05-12 03:50:55