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Naver, Kakao lag KOSPI rally as investors stay in the red
South Korean tech giants Naver and Kakao have underperformed the recent KOSPI rally, according to the Korea Exchange.
Kakao’s shares declined 4.7 percent since the start of 2026, while Naver’s stock increased just over 1 percent, lagging behind the broader market.
Data from NH Investment and Securities indicates that nearly 90 percent of Kakao investors are in the red, with an average loss of 29.6 percent, and 75.3 percent of Naver investors are also in the red, with an average loss of 9.4 percent.
Kakao’s stock has fallen sharply from its 2021 peak, while Naver’s stock, after reaching about 300,000 won last June, is now roughly 15 percent below that peak.
Analysts suggest that the companies’ exclusion from the government-led sovereign AI project and the lack of immediate results.
🔗 Source: The Korea Times
🧠 Food for thought
Implications, context, and why it matters.
### The sovereign AI project’s true impact remains unclear
- The financial impact of being dropped from the government’s sovereign AI competition cannot be calculated because the project’s budget, scope, timeline, and winning bidders are not specified.
- Without those details, the potential revenue lost by Naver and Kakao after opting not to rejoin the Ministry of Science and ICT-led effort to build sovereign AI foundation models cannot be estimated.
- Naver is described as a possible partner on “other AI-related projects,” yet the project types and commercial value are not provided.
- Results from Naver’s overseas sovereign AI work in Thailand, Saudi Arabia, and Morocco still need to be measured to judge whether those efforts can offset weaker share performance at home.
### Kakao’s 2026 AI launch could create opportunities for developers
- Third-party app developers, ad-tech (advertising technology) firms, and marketing agencies could build tools that plug into Kakao’s consumer platforms.
- Kakao plans to launch “Kanana in KakaoTalk and Kanana Search” in the first half of 2026, which could reshape how people use its messaging app and search.
- Engineering teams can review Kakao’s existing REST APIs (Representational State Transfer application programming interfaces) for login 1 and local search 2 to map today’s technical setup.
- Product and client teams can track new API documentation, beta programs, and Kanana roadmaps to line up integrations and launch plans before the release.
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