[THE INVESTOR] Korean internet giants Naver and Kakao on July 19 denied a local news report about Samsung forcing them to remove negative news articles from their main pages.

The Hankyoreh, a liberal publication, on July 19 reported that Samsung Group pressured them to remove stories on May 15-16, 2015, about Samsung Group heir Lee Jae-yong from the main page of their websites to manipulate public opinion.

The news articles referred to Lee taking over two of the group’s foundations -- Samsung Life Public Welfare Foundation and Samsung Foundation of Culture. The entities have 2.18 percent and 4.68 percent stake, respectively, in Samsung Life, which is crucial for Lee‘s succession as chief of Samsung Group.

“Contrary to the reports, these articles stayed on our main page for 7 hours and 32 minutes. Since we keep all data of our main page history from 2009, this can be easily confirmed,” a Naver spokesperson said.

Concerning the main page for May 16, Naver says articles related to Samsung were absent due to a lack of stories.

“Only 15 news articles were sent to us on May 16, which made it difficult to track using our cluster algorithm. Moreover since it was on our main page the previous day, the contents were considered outdated.”

Kakao, which operates Daum internet portal, meanwhile, said that articles related to Lee were exposed on its main page twice on May 15.

Both the firms said the latest news report harmed their reputation, and they would take legal action.

By Song Seung-hyun (ssh@heraldcorp.com)