'Netflix Prevention Act' Drifts Amid Clash Over Complete 검수완박

Lawyer from National Assembly Moves to Kim & Chang
Schedule Delayed Due to Ruling and Opposition Political Issues
ICT Bills Expected to Be Delayed Until Year-End

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] "When whales fight, the shrimp's back is broken."

Legislation related to the ‘additional network usage fees’ by big tech companies, including Netflix, has been pushed to the sidelines. The momentum was lost when a lawyer from the office of a lawmaker who was drafting the key related bill suddenly moved to a law firm representing Netflix. Furthermore, the confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties over the ‘prosecutorial investigation reform’ controversy in the National Assembly has made it practically difficult to pass the legislation in the first half of the year.

Lawyer Drafting Bill Moves to Law Firm

According to the National Assembly on the 19th, lawyer A, who was working in the office of Kim Sang-hee, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly from the Democratic Party of Korea and was drafting the ‘additional network usage fees’ bill, has moved to Kim & Chang, a law firm representing Netflix, which is currently in litigation with SK Broadband. Although there are no legal issues such as restrictions on changing jobs, concerns have been raised about the fact that the lawyer who was drafting the bill related to network usage fees moved to the side representing Netflix, which refuses to pay these fees. It has not been confirmed whether A is directly involved in the Netflix lawsuit, but critics point out that the lawyer who designed the bill has taken the opposite stance, causing the legislative process to lose momentum. After A’s job change, the office of Deputy Speaker Kim has reportedly been unable to speed up the follow-up processing of the related bill. A secretary to Deputy Speaker Kim responded, "There was a lawyer among the staff, but they quit last year, and I do not know where they moved."

USTR Pressure and Netflix Vice President’s Planned Visit to Korea

The involvement of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), which emerged after the legal dispute between SK Broadband and Netflix, also slowed down the National Assembly’s movement. The USTR has publicly expressed concerns about legislative efforts to mandate global content providers to pay network usage fees. As a result, conservative voices began to call for proceeding with the legislative process only after observing the legal battle between SK Broadband and Netflix.

However, the ruling and opposition parties agreed to submit the related bills to the bill review subcommittee meeting scheduled for the 20th, arguing that most bills were proposed after the trial began and that if they are not passed before the June local elections, the composition of the standing committee members will change, requiring the discussions on the issue to start over. Netflix’s urgent offensive continued. Dan Garfield, Netflix’s Vice President of Policy, requested meetings with members of the National Assembly’s Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee (STIBC). Amid sensitive timing, news of Garfield’s planned visit to Korea surfaced, causing both sides to feel pressured and ultimately cancel the visit.

The Real Obstacle: ‘Prosecutorial Investigation Reform’

Despite many twists and turns, the STIBC was scheduled to hold the second bill subcommittee meeting on the 20th to handle the mandatory network usage fee bill and other ICT-related bills. The real obstacle was the political issue surrounding the ‘prosecutorial investigation reform.’ The ruling and opposition parties engaged in a standoff, leading to a complete suspension of the National Assembly’s schedule. Jo Seung-rae, the ruling party’s secretary of the STIBC, said the day before, "The People Power Party’s STIBC suddenly canceled the second subcommittee schedule," and urged, "Urgent ICT and media bills are stuck in place while time passes; both sides must responsibly follow through on the agreed legislative schedule." In response, Kim Young-sik, the opposition party’s secretary of the STIBC, stated, "Given the Democratic Party’s expected forced passage of the abolition of prosecutorial investigation rights and amendments to the public broadcasting law, the subcommittee should be resumed promptly after urgent issues are resolved to allow in-depth bill review."

As both parties remain entrenched in a ‘chicken game’ without any concessions, the processing of ministry-specific issue bills has been pushed aside. Following personnel hearings and local elections, and with the expected replacement of the STIBC members in the second half of the 21st National Assembly, discussions on ICT bills are expected to be delayed until the end of the year.

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