[2020 National Audit] "Kakao and Others in 'Live Commerce' Regulatory Blind Spot"

Yang Jeong-suk Independent Lawmaker
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] Concerns have been raised about the need for regulations on 'live commerce' operated by platform providers such as Naver and Kakao.

Live commerce is a new sales system that combines the convenience of online shopping, allowing consumers to shop anytime and anywhere without time and location constraints, with the advantages of home shopping. Representative live commerce platforms in Korea include Naver's 'Shopping Live', Kakao's 'Rock Deal Live', and CJ Olive Young's 'Olive Live'.

Yang Jeong-sook, a member of the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee, stated during the national audit on the afternoon of the 8th, "The live commerce market in our country is rapidly growing, but side effects such as consumer damage are occurring."

Yang also referred to the 2015 fake Baeksuo incident, saying, "I requested data from the Korea Consumer Agency for the audit, but they are unable to even grasp the actual situation of the live commerce market," and pointed out, "The Broadcasting and Communications Review Committee has only about 1.5 monitoring staff."

Yang added, "Because live commerce is broadcast in real-time, even if there is false or exaggerated advertising, it is difficult to secure evidence unless it remains in VOD form," and "The concept of live commerce itself is ambiguous, and there are legal gaps, resulting in regulatory gaps as well."

According to the data presented by Yang, TV home shopping is subject to sanctions under the Broadcasting Act and regulations concerning product introduction and sales broadcasts, but Kakao Shopping Live is not subject to related laws and regulations. Furthermore, it was found that 'platform operator compensation responsibility' is also not being applied.

Yang emphasized, "Although regulating live commerce is difficult, it seems necessary to pay close attention," and stated, "Leaving consumer damage issues to the conscience and autonomy of platform operators is unreasonable."

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