[Full Text] Lee Jae-woong "Tada Service's Legal, Institutional, and Technical Foundations Need Further Review"

"Even if businesses operate according to the law, no one will attempt innovation in court documents"

Lee Jae-woong (right), CEO of Socar, and Park Jae-wook, CEO of VCNC, are entering the courtroom on the 10th at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, to attend the first trial sentencing hearing disputing the illegality of 'Tada.' Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jin-gyu Lee] Lee Jae-woong, CEO of Socar, who was sentenced to one year in prison for illegally operating the van call service 'Tada,' posted his final statement in full on his Facebook on the 10th, expressing his position to "open opportunities so that young people can dream of innovation."

In his final statement, Lee appealed, "I would appreciate it if you could take another look at the legal, institutional, and technical foundations of the Tada service, rather than its economic similarity to taxis."

He said, "The president and the government have repeatedly declared a comprehensive negative policy to allow everything that is not explicitly prohibited by law," but added, "I am saddened that a service created solely based on what is explicitly permitted by law has to stand trial like this."

He also emphasized, "Please allow more young people to dream of innovation," and stressed, "If one has to stand trial even when conducting business according to the law, let alone a comprehensive negative system, no one will dream of or attempt innovation."

Below is the full text of CEO Lee’s final statement.

Honorable Judge,

I am Lee Jae-woong, CEO of Socar.

I believe that technology can make society better and that entrepreneurship can change the future. The reason I invest in and support hundreds of young entrepreneurs in South Korea and around the world is because I believe they can change the world for the better.

Having studied computer science and artificial intelligence, I founded Daum Communications in 1995 when I was 26 years old and recently created the Hanmail.net service, which was selected by the Dong-A Ilbo as one of the top 10 'major innovative products' in 100 years of Korean companies. I take pride in having changed people’s lives through technology and opening a future where Korea becomes an internet powerhouse.

In 2008, I judged that Daum Communications was on a sustainable path and retired from management. Since then, I have been investing in and nurturing social innovation companies aimed at creating greater positive social change. Over the past decade, I have consistently presented a vision to our society that companies can be an important pillar of social innovation by helping social innovation companies grow sustainably and solve social problems while creating impact. Recently, I also served as the head of the Innovation Growth Headquarters of the Korean government, working with the government on policies for innovation in large and small companies.

The reason I started a new venture again was because our society could no longer bear the environmental and economic inefficiencies caused by owning 20 million cars, and I wanted to solve these social problems through shared infrastructure. By combining data, networks, and artificial intelligence technology, I believed it would be possible for users to rent and return shared cars at low cost whenever and wherever they need them, and that activating car sharing would bring about another major social change by reducing car ownership. The creation of driver dispatch services based on car sharing like Tada came from the same idea. In fact, Socar and Tada’s 14,000 vehicles have become part of many people’s daily lives and have replaced a large number of privately owned cars. Change is beginning.

Judge,

The president and the government have repeatedly declared a comprehensive negative policy to allow everything not explicitly prohibited by law. Nevertheless, I am saddened that a service created solely based on what is explicitly permitted by law has to stand trial like this. Tada has provided driver dispatch services based on rental cars only for 11-seater vans, people over 65, and the disabled, as explicitly stated in the law, and has been loved by more than 1.6 million users so far, creating new jobs for 12,000 drivers. We created a mobility service based on rental cars, specifically car sharing, which is different from taxis. Like many other countries, we are building a new industrial ecosystem based on mobility technology.

With technological advances, new industries emerge where the economic effects of watching broadcasts may be similar, such as cable TV, satellite broadcasting, Netflix, and YouTube, but the legal, institutional, and technological foundations are often completely different. The Hanmail service I created in 1997 had economic effects similar to letter exchange, which was prohibited for private entities under the Postal Act at the time. Uber in the U.S. and Google’s Waymo autonomous vehicle service have economic effects similar to taxis but are based on rental car car sharing services in terms of law, institutions, and technology. Rental cars are evolving into car sharing through technology, and services like Tada, which dispatch drivers to car sharing so users can rent vehicles without driving themselves, are evolving into autonomous driving car sharing by adding autonomous driving devices to car sharing. Socar plans to start a pilot autonomous driving car sharing service in Jeju this summer. I would appreciate it if you could take another look at the legal, institutional, and technological foundations of the service rather than its economic similarity.

It is regrettable and, on the other hand, heartbreaking that I stand trial today. I believe that in a rapidly changing world, society must embrace attempts at innovation, and companies that succeed in innovation must embrace society for our society to be sustainable. For that, I think our society must become one where more young entrepreneurs can dream of innovation. In a few days, it will be 25 years since I founded Daum, whose motto was “Let’s change the world joyfully.” I question how much our society has changed into one where innovation can be dreamed of in those 25 years. It seems to have regressed, and as a senior entrepreneur who dreamed of innovation and had the opportunity to achieve it, I am deeply ashamed in front of younger entrepreneurs, including CEO Park Jae-wook, who stand trial with me in this courtroom.

I will return to nurturing the innovation ecosystem and supporting young innovators once Socar and Tada stabilize. To avoid being ashamed in front of younger entrepreneurs, I will try to make more people dream of innovation and find various ways for more entrepreneurs to create new value through innovation and share that value with society.

Judge,

Please allow more young people to dream of innovation. If one has to stand trial even when conducting business according to the law, let alone under a comprehensive negative system, no one will dream of or attempt innovation. I hope our society will open opportunities to follow the law as it is and create new rules based on the future for what is not yet defined by law.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.