Baek Byung-yeul is a journalist at The Korea Times focused on cultural content, including films and cultural events in South Korea. You can contact him at baekby@koreatimes.co.kr to share your insights.
'Online platform regulation needed to correct abuse of power by dominant players': KCC chief
Kim Hong-il, chairman of the Korea Communications Commission (KCC), speaks during a press conference at Government Complex Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, Monday. Korea Times photo by Baek Byung-yeul
By Baek Byung-yeul
The Korea Communications Commission (KCC), the nation's broadcasting regulator, said the government’s move to regulate online platform operators is necessary to protect the interests of consumers and promote small and medium-sized companies, saying it will work to correct the dominant players’ abuse of power and unfair business practices, according to its chairman, Monday.
"The Platform Competition Promotion Act is being pushed for legislation by the government to correct the disadvantages small- and medium-sized businesses and users have been experiencing due to increased service fees and other negative factors, stemming from the abuse of dominant positions and unfair practices by large tech platform businesses," KCC Chairman Kim Hong-il said during a press conference at the Government Complex Gwacheon.
The government is currently legislating the Platform Competition Promotion Act, led by the Fair Trade Commission (FTC). The objective is to curb unfair practices by platform businesses enjoying a monopolistic status and foster a competitive environment.
The significance lies in designating a handful of large platform businesses as dominant businesses in advance and prohibiting actions such as favoring their own services. The FTC is in discussions with the KCC and other related ministries to draft the act.
"KCC agrees that legislation for such regulation is necessary. Experts point out that there may be issues of double regulation and the weakening of the competitive power of the domestic startup ecosystem if this law is enacted. We are discussing with the FTC and relevant ministries within such a scope to minimize concerns about these problems," the chairman said.
Despite the KCC chairman's commitment to minimizing issues, the new bill's approach of pre-designating dominant businesses is sparking fairness disputes between domestic and overseas online platform operators.
Korea's top internet search portal, Naver, which holds around a 60 percent share of the market, and Kakao, whose mobile messenger app KakaoTalk has about a 98 percent market share, are likely to be designated as dominant businesses. The industry view also sees fairness issues in the standards for the selection of dominant businesses. Also, effectively sanctioning overseas platform companies within the regulatory framework is also viewed as challenging, given potential international trade issues.
Kim was inaugurated as the new KCC chairman on Dec. 29. The former head of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission vowed to resolve these issues from the perspective of considering the convenience of the Korean public.
"I believe that the issues related to the KCC that are related to the people's livelihood should be the main focus and need to be resolved. There were many pending issues. I will strive to resolve them from the perspective of the people and their livelihood," Kim said.
The KCC chairman also supports the repeal of the Mobile Device Distribution Improvement (MDDI) Act, asserting that its removal will enhance competition among mobile carriers, ultimately leading to lower prices for consumers when purchasing mobile devices.
"The MDDI Act was created in 2014 due to excessive competition. However, as time passed, there was no competition between mobile carriers and the price of devices became too expensive. The government concluded that the repeal of the MDDI Act would bring greater benefits to users,” Kim said.