Kakao在北美KakaoTalk上线「Local News」本地生活信息页，并与外交部签MOU推送领事安全信息

Kakao Turns KakaoTalk Into Local Hub for Koreans in North America - Seoul Economic Daily
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Kakao CEO Chung Shin-a (left) and Foreign Minister Cho Hyun pose for a photo on Dec. 14 after signing a business cooperation agreement to provide overseas safety and consular administration services and other notices for the North American region, at the annex of the government complex in Seoul. Photo courtesy of Kakao
Kakao (035720.KS) is launching a location-based community information service on KakaoTalk that connects Korean users in North America with local businesses. The service gathers scattered local information in one place to make it easier for users to find and gives local business owners a new channel for marketing and communication.
Kakao said on the 15th that it had added a "Local News" tab offering community information for Korean residents to KakaoTalk in North America.
Local News brings together the practical information Korean residents in North America need. Users can browse by region to find KakaoTalk channels run by Korean-owned businesses, notices from South Korea's overseas diplomatic missions and open chat rooms joined by local users. KakaoTalk users in North America can access the service from the app's third tab without installing a separate app.
The tab gives users an overview of Korean-run businesses in each part of North America. Through each business's KakaoTalk channel, users can check products, events, discounts and other promotions, and on some channels they can send inquiries directly by message. Local business owners can also promote store information and offers using the message and update features of KakaoTalk channels, without a separate app. Businesses selected as recommended channels appear in the main section of Local News, widening their reach to users.
Safety information and consular notices from South Korean missions in North America are also available in one place. To that end, Kakao signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 14th covering the provision of overseas safety, consular administration and other notice services in North America. Under the agreement, the ministry supplies information needed by South Korean nationals and ethnic Koreans in the region, and Kakao helps deliver it to users through Local News.
Users can also join open chat rooms created by Korean residents themselves. The rooms cover topics such as the economy, child-rearing and hobbies, allowing users in North America to share information and connect around shared interests.
A Kakao official said the service was designed so that Korean users in North America can find the information they need for daily life within KakaoTalk and connect more easily with local businesses. "We will continue to identify services tailored to the daily lives of overseas users and expand KakaoTalk's global utility," the official said.
Kakao is also expanding KakaoTalk's global advertising business, starting with North America. It formally launched KakaoTalk advertising there in April last year and now offers products including message and display ads. From the 1st of next month, it will begin offering advertising services in Japan as well. The company plans to diversify its offerings according to user characteristics and advertising conditions in each market, broadening KakaoTalk's global revenue base.
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Original reporting by
Noh Hyun-sup
for Seoul Economic Daily.
AI-translated from Korean. Quotes from foreign sources are based on Korean-language reports and may not reflect exact original wording.
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