South Korea-headquartered Kakao Entertainment has appointed JungHee Ko as co-CEO, effective Wednesday (March 25), joining Joseph Chang, who has held the co-CEO title since 2024.
Ko takes on an additional role as Chief Platform Officer, overseeing a newly created unit responsible for Kakao Entertainment’s platform services.
The unit’s portfolio includes music streaming service Melon, web novels and webtoons unit KakaoPage and K-culture fandom division Berriz, which launched in March last year.
Chang, meanwhile, will lead the newly established Global Growth Center, which was created to expand the company’s reach globally.
Ko is a Kakao group veteran. At Kakao Bank, she rose from Head of Channels and Services in 2016 to Head of AI Group in 2025. Prior to that, she spent time at the Strategy Support Division of the wider Kakao group. In 2002, she was with Daum Communications, which merged with Kakao Corp. in 2014. Prior to that, she worked at Korea Information & Communications Co., Ltd. Star Bridge Communication from 1999.
“We will blend Kakao Entertainment’s IP competitiveness with our entertainment-specialized platform capabilities to create stronger synergy, thereby expanding the global fandom ecosystem of K-culture.”
JungHee Ko & Joseph Chang, Kakao Entertainment
Meanwhile, Chang’s track record includes a stint as Global Strategy Officer and CEO of Kakao Entertainment. He also spent time at Sony Music Entertainment as Vice President in 2015 to CEO of SME Korea in 2018 and CEO of SME Korea/Asia in 2019.
He previously served as Chief Business Officer of SM Entertainment. Kakao is a major shareholder in SM Entertainment, the K-pop agency behind acts such as Super Junior and aespa.
Kakao won a bidding war against entertainment giant HYBE for control of the company in 2023.
Kakao Entertainment said under the new leadership structure, the company will build stronger synergy between IP and platforms while broadening its global fandom.
The company said: “As global demand for K-content continues to grow and the entertainment industry increasingly shifts toward integrated IP and platform ecosystems, the new structure positions Kakao Entertainment to more strategically expand its reach and audience engagement worldwide.”
In his new role, Chang plans to bolster the competitiveness of the company’s IP business by connecting the planning, production, and distribution of IP across music, story, and media, according to the press release.
Chang will also seek to build a portfolio of “globally influential IPs” through expansion and diversification, as well as explore new business opportunities as the company aims to deepen its footprint in the US market via partnerships, distribution, and localized strategies, Kakao Entertainment said.
In a joint statement, Ko and Chang said: “We will blend Kakao Entertainment’s IP competitiveness with our entertainment-specialized platform capabilities to create stronger synergy, thereby expanding the global fandom ecosystem of K-culture.”
As part of its global expansion strategy, Kakao Entertainment in January partnered with China and Japan’s largest audio streaming providers to launch a new ‘K-pop Artist Chart.’ The company signed separate memoranda of understanding with China’s Tencent Music Entertainment and Japan’s Line Music to integrate K-pop streaming data into a new chart that will be handled by Melon, Kakao’s music streaming service in the South Korean market.
Music Business Worldwide
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