Kakao Entertainment closes Tapas Entertainment’s Korean division next month 2023

Kakao Entertainment intends to shut down the Korean division of Tapas Entertainment, a North American webtoon, and web novel platform, next month, according to industry insiders.

According to insiders, Kakao Corp.’s entertainment division recently informed Tapas Entertainment’s workers of its intention to liquidate the Korean subsidiary and provided severance pay to those who choose to retire.

Kakao Entertainment is likely to absorb the marketing and platform management sections of the Korean office after its closure.

“(Kakao Entertainment) chose to liquidate the Korean branch in order to increase business efficiency and competitiveness,” a Kakao Entertainment representative stated, requesting anonymity.

Kakao Entertainment purchased Tapas Media, a big North American webtoon platform, for US$510 million in 2021 and Radish, a huge U.S. web novel firm, for US$510 million in 2021, and combined them to become Tapas Entertainment the following year.

Kakao is one of the main technology businesses reducing its inefficient divisions in preparation for a recession.

Naver, the largest portal operator in the United States, has laid off around 15 percent of the workers at Wattpad, a Toronto-based storytelling platform that it bought in 2021.

Nam Kyung-bo, the interim CEO of Wattpad, said on the firm’s bulletin board on March 8 that the company let off 42 of its 267 workers in order to realign its operations to the changing climate.

“As you are all aware, the global economic situation has fundamentally changed over the past year, and we are not immune,” Nam wrote.