Naver Z Workers Stage Second Walkout Over Wage Freeze

Unionized employees at Naver Z, the metaverse affiliate of South Korean internet company Naver, staged a walkout Wednesday as a dispute over the company’s decision to freeze wages intensified.

About 120 workers, representing roughly 70 percent of the union’s membership, joined a picket outside Naver’s headquarters in Seongnam, south of Seoul, according to the labor union representing employees across the portal operator and its affiliates. The action was the Naver Z union’s second collective protest this year.

The workers are challenging management’s wage-freeze decision and arguing that employees should not bear the financial burden while executive compensation rises. During a live broadcast of the demonstration, the union said a wage freeze across Naver and its affiliates had occurred only once before, in 2009 after the global financial crisis. It alleged that executive pay increased by 71 percent during that period.

Wednesday’s walkout followed a partial four-hour strike by Naver Z employees earlier in September. The move signals an escalation from a limited stoppage to a larger public demonstration at the parent company’s headquarters, bringing the dispute directly to Naver’s corporate center.

The confrontation also adds to signs of labor tension in South Korea’s portal and digital-platform sector. Unionized workers at Kakao, the operator of the country’s dominant mobile messaging service, held multiple walkouts in June. The Naver Z action is the second industrial dispute to emerge in the domestic portal-service industry this year.

Naver Z operates within one of South Korea’s largest internet groups and is associated with the group’s metaverse business. The participation rate reported by the union indicates broad backing among its organized employees for collective action, although the walkout involved only a portion of the affiliate’s overall workforce.

No agreement or new wage proposal was announced alongside Wednesday’s action. The immediate issue remains whether Naver Z will maintain the freeze or return to negotiations with a revised offer. The union’s decision to stage a second action within the same month suggests that the sides have yet to narrow their differences.

The dispute comes as technology companies face pressure to balance investment in newer businesses with employee demands over pay and working conditions. For Naver Z, the next stage will depend on whether the walkout prompts renewed bargaining or leads workers to consider further industrial action.