Shares in Kakao tumble 8 pct after nationwide service disruption

SEOUL, Oct. 17 (Yonhap) -- Shares in Kakao Corp., the operator of South Korea's dominant messaging app KakaoTalk, and its affiliates opened sharply lower Monday after a massive service disruption over the weekend stemming from a fire at a data center.

Kakao had dropped 8.17 percent to 47,200 won (US$32) as of 9:30 a.m. on the KOSPI, the country's main bourse.

Kakao Games, the company's gaming platform, suffered a 7.45 percent fall to trade at 35,400 won, while Kakao Bank, a major internet-only lender, declined 7.43 percent to 16,200 won. Kakao Pay, its mobile payment and digital wallet service, retreated 9.14 percent to 32,800 won.

A fire at Kakao's data center near Seoul on Saturday caused the worst server outage for South Korea's dominant messenger and its internet portal Daum.

Nearly all online services provided from KakaoTalk, Kakao Pay and Kakao T, a transportation service app, suffered a massive malfunction.

Most of the disrupted services have been recovered, but some remained unavailable as of Monday morning.

brk@yna.co.kr
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