Asia Tech Wire (May 10) -- South Korean Internet giant Naver said Friday it is exploring various options, including the possible sale of its stake in LY Corp.

LY Corp. is the operator of messaging app Line, which has a very high market share in Japan, Taiwan and Thailand.

As of 2023, Line has more than 94 million monthly active users (MAUs) in Japan and more than 200 million users worldwide.

A Holdings, a 50-50 joint venture between Naver and Japan's SoftBank, holds a 64.5% stake in LY Corp.

LY Corp., which owns Line and internet search engine "Yahoo! Japan", suffered a cyberattack in late 2023 that led to the leakage of some users' personal information, prompting the Japanese government to take it seriously.

In response to the security breach, Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) asked LY Corp. to reconsider its reliance on Naver in a March press release.

Naver's consideration of a sale comes as SoftBank said Thursday that the two companies are in talks about Naver reducing its capital control over Line.