Assemblyman Kim Young-sik: "The Mobile Device Distribution Act That Makes Citizens Gullible Should Be Abolished Rather Than Supplemented"

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] "It is more reasonable to completely abolish the failed Device Distribution Improvement Act (DanTongBeop) rather than supplementing it."

As the government is pushing for a revision of the "Act on the Improvement of Distribution Structure of Mobile Communication Devices (DanTongBeop)" after six years of enforcement, legislative moves to abolish the law are gaining momentum in the National Assembly. This is because the law forces people to buy mobile phones at high prices, effectively turning them into so-called 'hogang' (overcharged customers).

Kim Young-sik, a member of the National Assembly from the People Power Party and part of the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee, announced on the 13th that he has prepared a bill to abolish DanTongBeop and transfer only the essential user protection regulations to the "Telecommunications Business Act," and has begun the process of gathering opinions from the government, manufacturers, mobile carriers, distributors, and academia.

Kim said, "The current DanTongBeop falls short of achieving both legislative purposes of 'establishing a transparent distribution order' and 'promoting public welfare of users,'" adding, "It is reasonable to completely abolish the failed DanTongBeop rather than trying to supplement it."

Regarding the moves by the Korea Communications Commission and others to operate a research group to supplement DanTongBeop, he pointed out, "The more attempts to improve the market through regulation, the more a balloon effect inevitably occurs as the market tries to evade the regulations," and added, "We should learn from the policy failure of the Moon Jae-in administration, which announced 23 regulatory policies to control real estate prices."

Kim plans to prepare multiple proposals and, after gathering opinions from stakeholders such as device manufacturers, mobile carriers, and distributors, to introduce an effective bill before the national audit.

He emphasized, "Since smartphone prices have been rising every year, reducing the burden of purchasing mobile phones should be prioritized to lower household communication expenses," and stressed, "It is necessary to shift regulatory policies that increase business profits into promotion policies that enhance public benefits."

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