Japan and South Korea are fighting over an app at a tense time

A South Korean protester wearing a mask of Kishida holds a logo of messaging app Line during a rally against a possible sale of Naver's stake in the operator of Line in Seoul, South Korea, on May 14, 2024. The stakes are elevated given concerns about North Korean nuclear proliferation and heightened instability in the region, Takeuchi said. — AP

TOKYO: A joint venture set up in 2019 by a top Japanese company and a top South Korean company was hailed as a beacon of cooperation amid strained diplomatic relations.

Executives from South Korea’s Naver and Japan’s SoftBank Group said they would jointly own the operator of Line, a South Korean-developed messaging app popularised in Japan. They gave the project a code name that emphasised cooperation: Gaia.