The South Korean government has initiated an emergency on-site inspection of Kakao, the operator of the country’s leading mobile messenger service, KakaoTalk, following repeated disruptions this year. Officials from the Ministry of Science and ICT dispatched a team of software and network experts to Kakao’s headquarters in Pangyo, just south of Seoul, to evaluate the company’s network operations.
This action comes in response to five service outages that have occurred within the past five months, prompting concerns over the platform’s reliability. The government aims to assess the causes of these disruptions and ensure stable service going forward.
The inspection is focused on uncovering the cause of last week’s KakaoTalk service disruption and evaluating how effectively the company responded to the issue. It marks the third on-site inspection by the Ministry of Science and ICT this year. Previously, the ministry conducted two inspections in May following three outages that occurred between May 13 and 21, after which Kakao was ordered to enhance the stability of its operational systems.
Kakao had implemented preventative measures and submitted additional plans earlier this month to strengthen its system. However, the most recent service disruption, which occurred just a week after these rectifications, has raised fresh concerns about the platform’s stability and reliability. The service failure, though brief, drew widespread public complaints, highlighting the significant impact of frequent outages on users.
According to the National Assembly and related authorities, the Ministry of Science and ICT began its inspection at Kakao’s Pangyo headquarters at 10:30 a.m. Initially scheduled for one day, the inspection could be extended if major deficiencies are found. The investigation’s results are expected to be released in about two weeks.
This latest service outage occurred on September 20 and, although it only lasted a few minutes, caused notable inconvenience due to the platform’s widespread use. Some analysts point out that the disruption happened while Kakao was still implementing corrective actions suggested after previous inspections, raising questions about the company’s ability to follow through on improvements.
Rep. Kim Km of the ruling People Power Party expressed concerns over the recent service disruption. He stated that Kakao’s failure just a week after submitting rectification measures suggests the company may not have taken sufficient steps to fully address the issue. He emphasized the need for more effective solutions to prevent recurring outages.
In the corrective action plan submitted to the Ministry of Science and ICT on September 13, Kakao outlined several steps, including developing internal guidelines for pre-testing, refining crisis response manuals, and setting clearer protocols for ensuring service stability. The company also committed to establishing an integrated monitoring system and improving user notification procedures. Some of these measures, like enhancing the testing environment, are expected to be completed by March next year, while a new work management system will be in place by December.
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