A Kakao-affiliated taxi passes by SK C&C's data center building in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Monday. Korea Times photo by Seo Jae-hoon

Both companies about to begin legal battle over compensation for damage

By Park Jae-hyuk

SK On, the battery manufacturing subsidiary of SK Group, is facing an allegation that a spark from its battery inside SK C&C's data center building in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, caused the worst-ever disruptions in Kakao's digital services last weekend, according to industry officials, Thursday.

Kakao CEO Hong Eun-taek said at Wednesday's press conference that a lithium-ion battery in the building's electrical control room caught fire and caused the outage of thousands of Kakao server devices on the upper floor.

Hong added that he heard SK On is the manufacturer of the batteries. Before Kakao's press conference, SK C&C had not named the manufacturer of the batteries inside its building.