After Nexon and Netmarble, Krafton was designated as a conglomerate in the game industry.

[e대한경제=심화영 기자] In the game industry, after Netmarble and Nexon, Krafton was included in the list of companies subject to disclosure. Byeong-gyu Jang, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Krafton, was appointed as the head of Krafton’s company.

According to the Fair Trade Commission on the 27th, Krafton will be designated as a new disclosure target business group as of the 1st of the next month. Krafton’s total fair assets amounted to 6.202 trillion won, exceeding the 5 trillion won standard for corporate groups subject to disclosure.

According to the Fair Trade Act, if the total amount of corporate assets exceeds 5 trillion won, it is classified as a group of companies subject to disclosure, so-called large corporations. When a company group becomes a disclosure target, the disclosure obligation according to the Fair Trade Act and the prohibition of unfair profit provision to specially related persons are applied.

Crafton, which started as Bluehole Studio in 2007 and changed to its current name in 2018, conducted an IPO last year thanks to the global success of the game ‘Battleground’. NCSOFT, a major game company, was found to have total assets of 4.58 trillion won last year, falling short of the criteria for designation as a large corporation (5 trillion won).

Meanwhile, Nexon’s head (the same person) was appointed by NXC auditor Yoo Jeong-hyeon, wife of the late NXC director Kim Jeong-ju, the founder. The head is designated by a person who actually leads the corporate group, not the CEO. This is a change following the death of Director Kim in February last year and the general position became vacant.

Kim Jae-shin, vice chairman of the Fair Trade Commission, said, “We considered that his wife, Jeong-hyeon Yoo, who had co-managed with Kim Jung-ju, was involved in the founding or management of Nexon. At the same time, I took into account the fact that I am the largest individual investor,” he said.

By Shim Shim, reporter dorothy@

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