The South Korean government has expressed regret over the Japanese government's pressure on LINE's share sale, regarding Naver. The move comes as Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' administrative guidance on LINE Yahoo, a subsidiary of Naver, is essentially pushing for a sale of Naver's shares.

Kang Do-hyun, the Second Deputy Minister of Science and ICT, held a press conference at the Government Complex in Seoul at 3 p.m. on the 10th and said, "While the Japanese government has said that the administrative guidance does not include a demand for share sales, the Korean company perceives it as pressure to sell shares, and we express regret over that."

Kang continued, "We will strongly respond decisively to discriminatory measures against Korean companies and unfair measures that go against the wishes of Korean companies," adding, "If Naver decides to maintain its shares and business in LINE Yahoo, we will support appropriate information security reinforcement measures."

The South Korean government made it clear that the recipient of the expression of regret was "the Japanese government" at the press conference. During a Q&A session, Kang said, "The Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary said in a press conference that the capital relationship improvement issue raised in the administrative guidance is just one of many options." He added, "However, despite this stance by the Japanese government, reports have surfaced that the company perceived the pressure as a demand to sell Naver's shares."

"While we need to verify the facts, we expressed regret over the possibility of such a perception," he added.

However, the Ministry of Science and ICT sees the consideration of share sales itself as Naver's decision. A related official explained, "While A Holdings, the holding company of LINE Yahoo, was equally invested in by Naver and SoftBank, the management rights of LINE Yahoo have been under the actual control of SoftBank since 2019 through board composition and other factors." He added, "It was practically difficult for Naver to integrate its technology and know-how into LINE Yahoo, and the company has been considering various alternatives, including share sales, from a long-term business perspective."

Regarding criticism that the government was not actively responding due to the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's policy of restoring relations with Japan, the ministry refuted, "That's absolutely not the case." Kang stressed, "This situation was crucial for Naver to finalize its position within a comprehensive management and governance environment," adding, "If we had judged that the Korean company was facing completely unfair discrimination or pressure, the government's response would have been entirely different."

Meanwhile, Naver announced an hour before the government's press conference that it is in talks with SoftBank, keeping all possibilities open, including share sales. Naver said, "We are diligently engaging in talks with SoftBank, keeping all possibilities open, including share sales, to achieve the best outcome for the company," adding, "We appreciate the government's consideration in clearly stating the principle that this is a matter for both companies to decide autonomously."