Fair Trade Commission Targets Platform Economy... Will the Long-Awaited 'Onple Law' Gain Momentum?

Fair Trade Commission Chairman Cho Sung-wook is giving a lecture at the "Fair Trade Commission Chairman Invitation Policy Lecture" held on the 13th at the Chamber Lounge of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Lee Junhyung] The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) is significantly strengthening its monitoring of unfair practices in the digital market, such as monopolies by platform companies. Chairman Cho Sung-wook personally emphasized his commitment to enacting the Online Platform Fairness Act. Attention is focused on whether renewed momentum will be given to the enactment of the On-Platform Act, which is increasingly likely to be discussed in the next government.

According to the KFTC on the 29th, the commission reorganized the ICT Task Force, which is responsible for monitoring the digital economy, on the 27th. With this reorganization, the ICT Task Force was renamed the Digital Market Response Team, and two new divisions?Digital International Cooperation and Market Communication?were established. The policy division and five monitoring divisions related to app markets, intellectual property rights, semiconductors, etc., which were part of the ICT Task Force, were merged into the Digital Monopoly Division. Considering that plans for personnel expansion were also announced, the organizational role has been significantly strengthened.

This is seen as the KFTC putting considerable effort into checking platform companies. The ICT Task Force was launched in November 2019 and played a central role in monitoring the platform economy. The ICT Task Force was also responsible for tasks related to the On-Platform Act as of January last year. The expansion and reorganization of the ICT Task Force signify a focus on platform monitoring. The establishment of the two new divisions, Digital International Cooperation and Market Communication, aims to strengthen cooperation with overseas authorities for global platform monitoring and to enhance understanding of the digital market.

Fair Trade Commission. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Chairman Cho reiterated his commitment to the long-awaited On-Platform Act. The On-Platform Act prohibits unfair trade practices by platform operators against platform tenants, such as excessive commission charges. It is considered one of the core tasks of the KFTC under Chairman Cho’s leadership. At a press conference on the 27th announcing the ICT reorganization plan, Chairman Cho stated, “It is regrettable that the legislative task for digital fair economy policies is somewhat delayed.” He openly expressed disappointment over the delayed passage of the On-Platform Act in the National Assembly.

The On-Platform Act has been stalled since the KFTC announced the legislative proposal in September 2020, due to inter-ministerial disputes and other issues. Although it seemed to gain momentum after the ruling party, government, and Blue House reached an agreement in November last year, it ultimately failed to be placed on the plenary session agenda before the end of this month’s extraordinary session. This is why Chairman Cho said at the press conference, “The process of drawing up the blueprint for a fair economy and implementing it in reality has not been smooth.”

Given this situation, attention is focused on whether the enactment of the On-Platform Act can gain speed. The KFTC is strengthening market monitoring by reorganizing its dedicated digital economy team, and Chairman Cho has personally expressed his determination to enact the On-Platform Act. However, the prevailing analysis is that it will be difficult to pass the On-Platform Act during this government since it was not passed in this month’s extraordinary session. This is due to strong opposition from the platform industry and the concurrent presidential election situation. Although the schedule for the February extraordinary session is being coordinated, it is unlikely that the relevant standing committee for the On-Platform Act will convene, as the session is primarily for the supplementary budget bill (Chugyeong) processing.

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