LINE Careers

About Work

Q Please introduce LINE’s Global Corporate Communications Team and your responsibilities.

Global Corporate Communications not only targets traditional media through press releases but also new media outlets like social media to enhance LINE's recognition and manage its reputation as a company and service. We analyze industry trends, create effective communication strategies to promote LINE in Korea and abroad, and protect LINE's brand reputation by responding to various crises or potential issues. Specifically, we plan and produce all sorts of external promotional materials, including press releases, interview articles, social media, and video content. We also monitor media trends and handle ongoing press inquiries, acting as a control tower. Furthermore, we assist the departments within LINE with their internal and external communication activities. Before publishing anything, they submit their workflow request and our team acts as the gatekeeper, understanding the purpose and content of the promotion and reviewing any potential issues. Each of us is assigned to different service domains within LINE. I support the promotion of LINE MAN, a delivery service in Thailand, LINE Pay, a convenient payment service in Taiwan, and work with the LINE Developer Relations team to promote LINE's various development roles and culture.

Q What’s your usual work schedule like?

Our team works remotely and comes to the office once a week. My day starts with monitoring news articles. I quickly check for any misinformation or mentions of LINE employees in articles related to LINE and share them internally. After that, I have a regular meeting with the PR team of LY Corporation. We handle different markets, so we share key updates and align on upcoming articles, executive interviews, and regional issues. Post-meeting, I visit journalists to build relationships and share LINE's news. If they request coverage, I collaborate with the relevant departments to compile information, develop key messages, and deliver them to the media. In the early afternoon, I review external documents requested by other business units and create press releases, media reference materials, and interview materials. I also work with PR teams in our main markets like Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, and Indonesia to develop local materials. In the afternoon, I mainly plan and produce promotional content. I check edits for videos to be uploaded on our YouTube channel, LINE Developers Korea, and write posts for our globally targeted SNS channels. I also manage LINE Plus's corporate website and am currently creating content for our newly revamped site. In the late afternoon, I compile major articles from overseas and distribute them across LINE. Lastly, I monitor articles published in the afternoon, check the final drafts of articles to be published tomorrow for any issues, and wrap up my work.

Q Among the tasks you've undertaken thus far, what do you find the most enjoyable?

While I enjoy my communication tasks, I often feel a sense of fulfillment, especially at times of crisis management or issues response. For instance, when negative articles arise due to a certain issue, my goal is to see a decrease in those articles or comments, and doing so gives me a sense of accomplishment. I realize that we are essential to the company and our contributions matter. Although crisis situations are stressful, I feel a sense of duty to protect the employees and the company. I also enjoy seeing the actual results of my planning tasks. When an article we've long prepared gets published, or when we upload a video promoting LINE's development culture, I feel incredibly proud seeing people’s reactions to our work.

Challenges and Failures

Q We say we learn more from our failures than our successes. Tell us about one or two of your failures.

Rather than thinking in terms of “failures”, I think there are things that need improvement. For example, when an article is published but it misses out on details we thought were important — as the person in charge, I wonder if I failed to communicate effectively with the media, if I didn’t convey the information correctly. In such cases, I try to communicate again, explaining why certain information is important, and go through a process of persuasion to incorporate it back into the article. Another situation is when negative articles or incorrect reports about the company are published. Especially for incorrect reports, we internally verify with relevant departments, organize the facts, and request a correction from the media. However, not all our requests are get corrected since the media also writes articles based on their investigations. Even if a correction isn't published, we precisely convey our position to prevent incorrect or negative articles in the future, and continuously monitor the articles.

Q What does the word “challenge” mean to you? Has there been a particular situation or turning point where you feel you grew significantly through your experience at LINE?

To me, "challenge" means exploring new territories and broadening my boundaries. Whenever I'm assigned a new task, I wonder if I can do it well. But I view it as an opportunity to grow and level up, which gives me courage. I believe it's beneficial to experience numerous challenges, not only in work but also in your personal life. In this regard, I think LINE is a great company. It provides constant stimuli and opportunities for employees to keep challenging themselves. Currently, my challenge is building a new corporate website. Unlike my previous company where we outsourced this task, we're now building it ourselves using LINE's internal platform. I'm learning and applying simple coding needed for the backend from developers, and even making some small adjustments myself. I'm also closely collaborating with the designers and local PR teams. At first, it was daunting, but by cooperating with various departments, discussing, and confronting issues together, we're solving our problems one by one.

Thoughts on competencies

Q What competencies and qualities do you believe are necessary for delivering excellent performance in your role?

I would say there are three main skills someone needs. First is crisis management. You always need to be prepared for unexpected crises, as they can damage the company's reputation instantly. In such situations, it's crucial to develop quick and accurate external messages tailored to various stakeholders like users, employees, the media, and investors, and respond strategically. Having knowledge in a range of fields helps, as being at the forefront of the company's communication requires understanding of IT, tech, business, international politics, security awareness, and legal matters. This broad knowledge helps you quickly grasp the overall context and adjust strategies with flexibility during external communications. Second, it's essential to respect time. As we closely work with the media, adhering to agreed-to deadlines, like article publication times, is crucial. Personally, I always keep the overall timeline in mind for any task. A tip would be to always create a priority-based to-do list and set alarms for important schedules on both your calendar and phone. Lastly, having a sense of mission and cooperation is important. The Communication Team, representing LINE and issuing messages externally, can't achieve any goals alone. Since even a single word or slight nuance can create different results, it's essential to have a sense of mission and a flexible attitude towards collaboration with numerous departments and various stakeholders.

Special experiences at LINE

Q Please tell us about the colleagues that you work with at LINE.

My team is made up of people who are all strongly self-motivated, who enjoy growing and supporting each other. We’re kind of like a soccer team. We have a team lead who sets the vision and instructs on tactics for important matters, much like a coach. Our team leader acts like a captain, catching any overlooked details and creating a fun atmosphere. Our team members switch between offense and defense modes depending on the situation. We also have a foreign team member who acts as a reliable goalkeeper, providing immediate feedback on important English materials or when dealing with foreign media. Thanks to the team atmosphere that guarantees autonomy based on trust, we work with more responsibility and enjoyment. We also work closely with the Global Risk Management team within our function. As they manage potential issues and global risks, we often seek their advice. Our function as a whole has offline lunch gatherings at least once a month to build familiarity and synergy.

Q Is there any benefit or cultural aspect at LINE that you think is particularly notable?

Regarding the work environment, I have to talk about Hybrid Work. It's not just about the freedom of work location, but it allows more frequent interactions with PR teams from overseas branches. Since we're in different countries, it's hard to meet in person without business trips, but thanks to hybrid work, we naturally meet once a week via video conference. We share not only work-related matters but also personal ones, like how recently a team member in Taiwan shared photos of her newborn twins, and we all celebrated together. In terms of organizational culture, I'd like to mention the internal program that allows direct interaction with the company's CEO. About 20 employees gather offline and exchange ideas on working methods with the CEO. While working, there are times when you wonder if you're doing things right or how you can grow. It's not common to have a conversation with the CEO about your current work-related concerns and find solutions. It's a great opportunity to hear the CEO's experiences and gain insights, so I'm eagerly awaiting the next session.

Wrap-up

Q Do you have any goals you personally want to achieve at LINE?

As this is my first time working at an IT company, I initially spent a lot of time understanding the tasks given to me and learning about unfamiliar development terms and internal processes. However, through that time, I learned a lot about how employees create services and what kind of company LINE is. Moving forward, my goal is to deep-dive into my area of responsibility and become an IT communication expert who can produce more proactive and in-depth results.

Q Any message for those interested in this position?

In addition to the competencies needed for a communication role that I mentioned earlier, I think it's important to continuously understand the history of your field of interest and industry. Please keep an eye on the news related to LINE that is published through press releases and social media!