<기사제목>Broadcasting Commission Chairman: "Will Review Whether Google's App Fee Increase Violates Law"

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] The government has left open the possibility of an investigation based on market self-regulation principles regarding Google's ongoing application fee policy. It will also review whether there is any legal violation. This is based on the judgment that the increase in app fees could expand to harm not only companies but also consumers.

On the afternoon of the 28th, Sanghyuk Han, Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, stated this during the plenary session of the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee (STIBC) in response to a question from Hong Jungmin, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, urging a pan-governmental alternative regarding Google's fee expansion. He said, "The Ministry of Science and ICT, the Fair Trade Commission, and two other ministries will work together to find a solution," adding, "The Fair Trade Commission should review abuse of dominance, and the Korea Communications Commission should look into prohibited acts under the Telecommunications Business Act."

Choi Ki-young, Minister of Science and ICT, also said, "I thought the government would not intervene as it is a matter between companies," but added, "We are carefully monitoring the situation. It seems problematic." When asked if there was any investigation into the burden on the domestic content industry, he replied, "As far as I know, there is no investigation result," but mentioned, "There may be a need to conduct one."

Earlier, Google decided to change its payment policy to require consumers to use Google's payment system mandatorily when making payments through apps, similar to Apple, and automatically deduct fees from app sellers. In this case, concerns arise that content usage fees for video, music, webtoons, etc., for users of smartphones equipped with Google's operating system (OS) will inevitably increase by 20 to 30%.

On this day, Representative Hong said, "In the case of Melon, the monthly subscription fee is 15,000 won on the Apple App Store and 12,400 won on the Google Play Store. However, with the new policy, it will be 15,000 won on Google as well," adding, "The content industry has endured Apple's pricing policy since Google Android and iOS account for 80%, but in the future, due to the powerful Play Store's policy, there are concerns about product price increases, reduced operating profits, and increased consumer harm." He expected that Google would earn several times more revenue in Korea due to this measure.

In particular, Representative Hong cited a survey result showing that 61.5% of domestic content companies have fewer than 10 employees and 60.9% are small-scale in terms of operating profit, asking, "Do you think small content companies can withstand an additional expenditure of 30% due to Google's policy change?"

In response, Minister Choi said, "If they are competitive, it would be fine, but if not, it will be difficult. It is necessary to resolve such issues. Although the solution does not seem easy, it seems related to the Korea Communications Commission and the Fair Trade Commission as well. We need to consider it together."

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