Kakao said on March 26 that shareholders approved a proposal to reappoint CEO Jeong Shina (정신아) as an inside director at its 31st annual general meeting held at its headquarters in Jeju Special Self-Governing Province. Jeong was then formally appointed as CEO at a board meeting that followed, extending her term through March 2028.

Jeong, who took office as CEO in March 2024, carried out a reorganisation of the group structure and governance improvements. Kakao’s annual consolidated revenue in 2025 exceeded 8 trillion won.

Kakao is shifting its management focus toward growth centred on artificial intelligence and KakaoTalk. Based on “Kanana in KakaoTalk” and “ChatGPT for Kakao,” introduced last year, it plans to expand its AI agent services.

By the end of this year, it will use “PlayMCP” and an “AI Agent Builder” to connect external partners to Kakao’s AI ecosystem. KakaoTalk plans to increase average daily time spent by 20 percent to drive structural improvements in its Tokbiz business.

To increase distributable profit, Kakao will reduce 100 billion won in share premium capital and increase total dividends by 10 percent from a year earlier. It also decided to cancel more than half of its treasury shares. Management will also buy treasury shares.

Jeong said the company has set a goal of achieving more than 10 percent growth in consolidated revenue in 2026 and a 10 percent operating profit margin. She said she will do her best to continue improving short-term results while ensuring that growth potential translates into tangible performance.

Separately, shareholders reappointed Cha Kyung-jin (차경진), a professor in the Management Information Systems major at Hanyang University, as an outside director and newly appointed Kim Young-joon (김영준), a professor at Korea University’s Graduate School of Management of Technology. Kakao’s board will consist of 6 members: inside directors Jeong and Shin Jong-hwan, and outside directors Ham Choon-seung, Cha, Kim Sun-wook and Kim.