Naver's Lee Hae-jin and Kakao's Kim Beom-su Summoned Again for National Assembly Audit

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] Lee Hae-jin, Naver's Global Investment Officer (GIO), and Kim Beom-su, Chairman of Kakao's Board of Directors, are once again summoned to the National Assembly's audit session.

The National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Communications Committee adopted Lee GIO and Chairman Kim as witnesses for the comprehensive audit of the Broadcasting and Communications Committee scheduled for the 21st at its plenary meeting on the 14th.

Lee GIO and Chairman Kim were requested as witnesses by Park Sung-joong, a member of the People Power Party, regarding the verification of portal artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms and issues of coexistence with small and medium content companies.

The bipartisan agreement on the witness adoption for the two figures gained momentum after Park apologized for raising suspicions against Yoon Young-chan of the Democratic Party. Previously, Park had remarked to Yoon, "Does the Democratic Party have something shady with Naver and Kakao that they can't call them as witnesses?"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Before the agenda vote, Park expressed his apology to Yoon Young-chan of the Democratic Party, and the Democratic Party, including Yoon, accepted it.

On this day, besides Lee GIO and Chairman Kim, Park Dae-jun, CEO of Coupang; Yoon Goo, CEO of Apple Korea; Lee Jae-hwan, CEO of One Store; and Sung Jae-ho, Chairman of the Broadcast Journalists Association were also adopted as witnesses.

CEO Park Dae-jun was requested by Yang Jeong-sook, an independent lawmaker, over platform monopolies and the issue of dominating local telecommunications markets. CEO Yoon Goo was requested by Byun Jae-il of the Democratic Party regarding the prevention of forced in-app payments and insufficient implementation of Fair Trade Commission consent decisions.

CEO Lee Jae-hwan was requested by Cho Seung-rae of the Democratic Party concerning the neglect of excessive paid payments by minors, and Chairman Sung Jae-ho was requested by Kim Young-sik of the People Power Party regarding the political neutrality and effectiveness of fact-checking projects.

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