"Don't Know" Will Google's 'Yucheital' Answers Continue This Year?

John Lee, CEO of Google Korea, appeared at the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee's audit of the Korea Communications Commission held in October last year, responding to questions from lawmakers. Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Cho] "It's under the headquarters' jurisdiction, so I don't know much." "I do not have the authority to speak on this matter."

Last year, Google Korea faced intense criticism during the National Assembly audit as its representatives consistently gave evasive answers, known as 'disembodiment' responses, to the barrage of questions. The person who testified was John Lee, a Korean-American president who is neither the CEO nor a registered director. He is responsible for sales and marketing in Korea but legally holds no representative authority at Google Korea. Setting aside his indifferent attitude, it was difficult to expect responsible answers from someone in such a position.

Similar 'disembodiment' answers and resulting 'ineffective inquiries' are expected to recur at the upcoming National Assembly Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee audit on the 7th. Nancy Mable Walker, the CEO of Google Korea, who has recently been embroiled in controversy over the '30% commission,' will not attend the audit citing the spread of COVID-19, so John Lee is expected to testify again.

◆Annual 'I don't know' answers... Criticism of "Are you playing a tape recorder?"

This is not John Lee's first time testifying at the National Assembly audit. He has appeared multiple times as a witness in the 20th National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee, but he is already known for his indifferent attitude and 'I don't know' style answers every year. From June 2005 to May 2010, he served as the CEO of Oxy Reckitt Benckiser. Oxy was a company involved in the humidifier disinfectant damage that claimed hundreds of lives, and at that time, John Lee was criticized by public opinion for not cooperating with investigations and neglecting victims.

Last year, John Lee appeared at the audit to answer numerous controversies including Google Korea's evasion of network usage fees, fake news distributed via YouTube, and copyright violations. However, all his answers were along the lines of "I cannot confirm," "It's under the headquarters' jurisdiction, so I don't know," and "It's difficult to promise." When asked about payment of network usage fees, he responded with a non sequitur boasting about Google's $30 billion investment in global networks and infrastructure, and he was criticized for mentioning information that differed from that confirmed by domestic companies.

In particular, as a Korean-American, he answered all questions in English and used an interpreter to delay the process as much as possible. When the lengthy answers in the limited questioning time per lawmaker resulted in 'I don't know' level responses, lawmakers eventually criticized him with remarks like "Are you playing a tape recorder?" and "Answer yes or no. Choose one." There were growing calls to hold a separate hearing for Google Korea to summon a responsible person who can provide substantive answers.

The situation was no different in 2018, a year earlier. John Lee, who testified then, answered "I don't know" when asked which region or branch Google’s sales are recorded in, and also said "I don't know. I will provide the data" when asked how many domestic cache servers Google has. Lawmakers strongly criticized this consistent "I don't know" attitude as unbefitting of a global company. At that time, John Lee, who is proficient in Korean, was also criticized for deliberately answering only in English to buy time. Some lawmakers publicly expressed discomfort over his Korean skills, saying, "I heard he even swears well in Korean in private."

◆Google pushes 30% commission... Exemption in India

Google's recently controversial commission policy requires app developers on Google Play to use Google's payment method (in-app payment) when selling items and content. In this process, a whopping 30% commission goes to Google. Until now, Google Play applied a 30% commission only to games, unlike Apple's App Store, but from next year, this will be expanded to all content and apps.

This is expected to be a direct blow not only to domestic app developers but also to consumers. Price increases for major content such as webtoons and music are inevitable. There are also concerns that increased costs will threaten the survival of small and medium-sized developers. In response to the controversy, Google held an online briefing immediately after confirming the policy change and offered a carrot by pledging to invest $100 million over the next year to develop the Korean digital content ecosystem, but the reaction remains cold.

Voices are growing for the domestic gaming, portal, and IT startup sectors to actively respond to the 'app market giant' Google through the National Assembly audit.

Currently, Google has decided to postpone the 30% commission and mandatory in-app payment policy in India until 2022. Assemblyman Han Junho of the Democratic Party cited a report from the US IT media TechCrunch, urging active responses, saying, "It's not the time for each developer to just watch Google's moves."

India is the world's second-largest internet market and the largest market for Google Play, but its sales are lower than Korea's. It is known that this postponement decision was influenced by more than 150 Indian startups unofficially uniting to respond. Assemblyman Han added, "Especially, domestic app market One Store urgently needs to improve its distribution network to become an alternative to Google, and content developers including game companies must strive to provide content on equal terms."

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