Naver's metaverse affiliate stages walkout, 2nd collective action this year

Unionized employees at Naver Z Corp., the metaverse subsidiary of Naver Corp., halted work on Wednesday, marking their second collective action this year due to the company's wage freeze decision. Approximately 70% of the union's members, or around 120 staff members, demonstrated in front of Naver's headquarters in Seongnam, south of Seoul, according to the affiliate-wide labor union.

Throughout Naver and its subsidiaries, a wage freeze had only occurred once in 2009, following the global financial crisis. However, the company then increased its executives' wages by 71%, burdening employees with the financial impact, the union argued during a live broadcast of the walkout. This collective action is the second for Naver Z, following a 4-hour partial strike earlier this month, and the second industrial dispute within South Korea's portal service industry after Kakao Corp., a messenger app operator, staged multiple walkouts in June.