Mr. Lee Jae Seung
Director, kakao
Jason Lee is the director of Kakao's Jeju relations cooperation Team. He is currently serving as a director of Kakao Jeju Cooperation Team. He is responsible for linking Kakao to Jeju and developing relationships, and is also a director of the Jeju Creative Economy Innovation Center and Jeju Industry-University Convergence Center. In keeping with the changes in the working environment after the pandemic, the Kakao Community Work TF is researching employment policies and is drawing a sketch for Kakao's work office in the advanced science and technology complex.
The jolly experiments of Kakao, Jeju Science Park, and the transition in the labor environment
Kakao, Co., Ltd. relocated itself from the capital city, Seoul, to Jeju in April 2012. It was never an easy move for a Seoul-based IT firm to transfer to other regions. However, Kakao called it the ‘jolly experiments.’
Their ‘experiments’ were a relocation to Jeju to resolve efficiency issues caused by the centralization of the capital region, foster a creative work environment, and balance life and work, thus inducing sustainable growth of people, companies, and society.
The advance party of 16 members came to a small lodging house in Yusuam-ri, Aewol-eup, Jeju-si, in 2004. In 2006, with the opening of the Global Media Center in Odeung-dong, Jeju-si, the team took off with the sketch of their main office’s transfer. Around this time, the Jeju Science Park site was prepared. Without hesitation, Kakao built its home in the Park. In April 2012, Space.1, Kakao’s HQ opened. This was followed by the opening of their second building, Space.2, in April 2014, along with the child-care facility, Space.Kids.
The relocation of Kakao’s HQ means more than just the physical transfer. It was the first case to show that an IT company could move from the overconcentrated capital to other regions where work environments could improve.
It has already been ten years since the ‘experiment’ ended. Korea is again facing the menace of regions going extinct as young generations still leave their home. Such changes also deformed the work environment. Many companies within the Science Park, including Kakao, are agonizing about their sustainability. The experiment has been once more put to trial.
However, it was not until COVID-19 that companies in Korea began to look at Jeju since the pandemic brought about significant changes in the forms of working. With that being the truth, Kakao seeks to redefine the role of its Jeju HQ, looking back at the past ten years’ experiment according to the ever-changing work environment. The company is updating its office into a ‘work-vacation office’ in preparation for the post-pandemic work environment and the work-vacation policy promoted by Jeju Province.
Jeju Science Park is swiftly taking on resolving regulatory and structural issues that used to deter corporate investment, with the tenants coming up with plans in response to the fast-changing work environment. The valley is ready to take the second leap into the future.
