Seongwook Cho "Institutionalizing Consumer Protection Responsibility Based on Platform Role and Involvement"

Korean Economic Association Joint Academic Conference Lecture
"Reforming the Current Legal Regulatory System from Mail-Order Sales to E-Commerce and Online Platforms"

Chairman Jo Sung-wook of the Korea Fair Trade Commission attended the '2021 Distribution-Supply Industry Win-Win Agreement Ceremony' held at the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business in Yeouido, Seoul on the 2nd and delivered a greeting. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] Cho Sung-wook, Chairman of the Korea Fair Trade Commission, emphasized that he will push for a complete revision of the Electronic Commerce Act to create a safe non-face-to-face transaction environment for consumers in the digital economy. This is part of the goal set at the beginning of the year to realize a 'Digital Fair Economy.'

On the 4th, at a joint academic conference of the Korean Economic Association held at Seoul National University, Chairman Cho stated, "We will reform the current regulatory system centered on telecommunication sales into a regulatory system focused on electronic commerce and online platforms, and especially stipulate the responsibility of platform operators to prevent consumer damage commensurate with their role and level of involvement in transactions."

The Fair Trade Commission enacted the Online Platform Act last year, which governs transaction rules between platforms and tenant companies, and is currently working on a full revision of the Electronic Commerce Act to regulate transaction relationships between platforms and consumers. The Commission views it as problematic that platforms, which intervene directly in various stages of transactions beyond simple mediation, bear no compensation responsibility as long as they notify that they are not contracting parties.

He said, "Currently, the Electronic Commerce Act imposes certain responsibilities and obligations on platform operators, but there are limitations that do not correspond to their recently increased status and role," and added, "We will stipulate the responsibility of platforms to prevent consumer damage and strengthen information disclosure for consumers' rational choices, such as search results, exposure rankings, user reviews, and personalized advertisements." He continued, "We will ease the requirements for temporary suspension orders so that local governments can also request temporary suspension orders from the Fair Trade Commission, and we will also introduce a consent decision system for prompt damage relief."

As key tasks for establishing a digital fair trade order, he presented ▲ establishing basic norms for the digital economy through legislation and revision of laws ▲ strengthening the protection base for vulnerable groups in the digitalization process ▲ creating a safe non-face-to-face transaction environment for consumers ▲ maintaining innovation momentum through regulation of anti-competitive practices.

Chairman Cho emphasized, "In line with the growth of the digital economy, it is necessary to secure transparency and fairness in transactions so that the fruits of growth can be evenly distributed to all market ecosystem participants, including companies, consumers, and platform workers."

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