Seoul has urged Tokyo not to discriminate against South Korean companies, the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, after reports that technology giant Naver Corp is under pressure to sell its stake in Japan’s top messaging app.
South Korea’s Naver developed Line 13 years ago and now has more than 95 million users. It is also popular in Taiwan and Southeast Asia.
The app is operated in Japan by LY Corp, which is majority-owned by A Holdings, a joint venture between Naver and Japanese investment firm Softbank Group Corp.
Photo credit: REUTERS
Japanese reports last week said that Tokyo had demanded LY Corp review its relationship with Naver, with the Kyodo news agency saying Softbank was in talks to buy Naver’s LY Corp shares.
“We maintain a firm stance that there should be no discriminatory measures against South Korean companies,” the ministry said in a statement.
The South Korean government plans to discuss the matter with Naver “if necessary,” it said.
Line has been under scrutiny in Japan over a data leak involving more than 500,000 records last year, which prompted the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications to issue administrative guidance.
Line’s “strong dependence on Naver in terms of systems and network configuration” was among the causes of the leak, the Nikkei reported the ministry as saying.
“This relationship has also made it difficult for your company to demand appropriate safety measures from Naver and to implement proper management,” it said, referring to LY Corp.
One of South Korea’s biggest technology companies, Naver, and its myriad services — including Google-like maps, financial services similar to Apple Pay, and popular blogs and chat forums — are used daily by many South Koreans.
The unfolding situation is a “mismatch” for South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, who has been trying to improve ties with Japan in the face of military threats from North Korea, Sejong University business professor Kim Dae-jong said.
“Under global standards, countries do not demand companies forsake their shares — just like we don’t demand Facebook sell theirs over privacy concerns. Japan should follow such standards,” Kim said.
However, Seoul is not in position to block the deal as it does not involve national security, he said.
Naver declined to comment.
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
ADVERSARIES: The new list includes 11 entities in China and one in Taiwan, which is a local branch of Chinese cloud computing firm Inspur Group The US added dozens of entities to a trade blacklist on Tuesday, the US Department of Commerce said, in part to disrupt Beijing’s artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing capabilities. The action affects 80 entities from countries including China, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, with the commerce department citing their “activities contrary to US national security and foreign policy.” Those added to the “entity list” are restricted from obtaining US items and technologies without government authorization. “We will not allow adversaries to exploit American technology to bolster their own militaries and threaten American lives,” US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said. The entities
Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) yesterday told lawmakers that she “would not speculate,” but a “response plan” has been prepared in case Taiwan is targeted by US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, which are to be announced on Wednesday next week. The Trump administration, including US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, has said that much of the proposed reciprocal tariffs would focus on the 15 countries that have the highest trade surpluses with the US. Bessent has referred to those countries as the “dirty 15,” but has not named them. Last year, Taiwan’s US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US
Prices of gasoline and diesel products at domestic gas stations are to fall NT$0.2 and NT$0.1 per liter respectively this week, even though international crude oil prices rose last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices continued rising last week, as the US Energy Information Administration reported a larger-than-expected drop in US commercial crude oil inventories, CPC said in a statement. Based on the company’s floating oil price formula, the cost of crude oil rose 2.38 percent last week from a week earlier, it said. News that US President Donald Trump plans a “secondary
RSS