[2020 National Audit] Crossfire Poured on Google: "Becoming the Devil"

Lim Jae-hyun, Executive Director of Google Korea, appeared as a witness at the comprehensive government audit on the Office for Government Policy Coordination held at the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee on the 22nd, responding to questions from lawmakers. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

"What is Google's motto?"

"Don't be evil."

"From my perspective, it seems to have become 'Must be evil.'

Google Destroying the Ecosystem

On the 22nd, during the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee audit, Google faced a barrage of criticism. Members of the committee continued to criticize Google's announced policy of mandatory in-app payments and a 30% commission fee.

Lee Young, a member of the People Power Party, criticized, "If the commission fee increases by 30%, in plain terms, the ones benefiting are Google and the three telecom companies," adding, "and the ones who suffer are consumers and small business owners."

Lee pointed out, "As backlash intensified, Google created the 'Create Program' and said it would spend 115 billion won, but this is only for one year, not a substantial provision, and remains ambiguous."

Min Hyung-bae of the Democratic Party also said, "(Google) claimed it would normalize the ecosystem through mandatory in-app payments, but from my view, it is ecosystem destruction."

Fair Trade Commission Chairman Cho Sung-wook also added his opinion to the lawmakers' criticisms. Chairman Cho said, "From the FTC's perspective, Google has engaged in acts that undermine market competition," and "We plan to investigate this matter."

Google: "Only Affects About 100 Domestic Developers"

Im Jae-hyun, Managing Director of Google Korea, who appeared as a witness before the Political Affairs Committee, had to sweat under the lawmakers' questioning.

Im explained the criticism of the policy change by saying, "It only affects about 100 developers domestically," and "About 97% of developers are already complying with in-app payments."

Im also denied the claim that domestic sales have reached 6 trillion won, stating, "According to App Annie, sales are at the level of 1.4 trillion won."

Regarding the six-month policy delay only in India, he added, "Because the payment system is different, it takes time to integrate with the Google Play system."

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