In response to pressure on Naver to sell off their holdings in the messaging app Line in Japan, the South Korean Foreign Ministry issued a statement requesting that Japan not discriminate against South Korean companies, according to AFP on Monday.
South Korea’s Naver developed the messaging software Line 13 years ago, though currently it is operated in Japan by LY Corp, which is mostly owned by A Holdings - a joint venture between Naver and SoftBank.
Line now has more than 95 million users and is Taiwan's most popular messaging app. Unfortunately, due to a 2023 cyber attack that resulted in a leak of more than 500,000 users’ personal information, the messaging app has come under scrutiny.
Japanese media reported that Japan's Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry stated that Line's "strong dependence on Naver’s system and network configuration" was one of the reasons for the leak. It has asked LY Corp to review its relationship with Naver.
South Korean Sejong University professor Kim Dae-jong said that the current situation is unfortunate for South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who has been trying to improve relations with Japan. Kim reasons that other countries would not ask companies to give up their shares due to privacy concerns, giving the example that South Korea would not ask Facebook to sell its holdings because of this issue, so Japan should follow such standards.