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| Google Korea's office in Seoul / Courtesy of Google Korea |
By Baek Byung-yeul
Google is feared to lose its growth momentum in Korea, as the U.S. tech giant has been facing increasingly unfavorable business conditions due to a series of legal setbacks coupled with the unionization of its workers, according to industry officials Friday.
A top court ruled recently that the company was negligent in protecting Korean user data and the antitrust agency fined it for obstructing the entry of competitors by abusing its dominant market position. Also, Google Korea employees established a union on April 11 to counter the firm's move to downsize the workforce.
"Google has been facing regulatory measures for abusing its dominant position here. Given domestic IT service providers have been pressured to comply with the government's regulations more strictly that overseas companies, these measures showed that Google needs to pay more attention to local law," an official from a local app developer said on condition of anonymity.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled that Google has an obligation to disclose the list of personal data it provided to third parties including the U.S. government, in accordance with domestic laws.
Google, headquartered in the U.S., has not complied with demands for information disclosure from consumers in Korea.
However, the Supreme Court stated that decisions on non-disclosure should not be made solely based on foreign laws, and that it is appropriate for Korean customers to file a lawsuit requesting the disclosure of what information Google shared about them.
Regarding the top court's orders, Google spokesperson said "We will review the Supreme Court's full written decision carefully. Protecting user's data and privacy is our utmost priority and we remain committed to making ongoing updates that give users in Korea control and transparency, while providing the most helpful products possible."
Google was also fined 42.1 billion won ($32.4 million) by the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) on April 11 for preventing multiple game companies such as Nexon, NCSOFT and Netmarble from launching their games on ONE store, a domestic app market operator, between June 2016 and April 2018.
"Google analyzed that the launch of a competitive and comprehensive app market, ONE store, will have a major impact on its sales in Korea," the FTC said.
Google is also tasked with negotiating with the founders of the union asking for workplace improvements and employment stability.
The union members said Friday that they held their first general meeting on April 11. During the meeting, they enacted regulations and elected leaders.
They said they decided to establish the union due to the increasing job insecurity. Alphabet, the parent company of Google, announced in January that it would reduce its workforce by about 6 percent this year, which amounts to some 12,000 employees. In accordance, Google Korea also notified its employees of the impending job eliminations.
"With the ongoing workforce reduction in the U.S. IT industry, employees have been concerned about job insecurity and decided to establish the union," said Kim Jong-sub, head of the union, said. "The purpose of the union is to improve employment stability, working environment and welfare."
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