[2022 National Audit] Heated Exchanges in Science Committee... Opposition 'Foreign Company Privileges' VS Ruling Party 'Digital New Deal Failure'

Regarding 5G Quality and Mid-Tier Plans
Calls for Ministry of Science and ICT Self-Reflection Arise
Caution Urged on Network Usage Fee Law

At the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Communications Committee's audit held on the 4th, lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties pointed out issues such as the restructuring of the Cloud Security Authentication (CSAP) grading system and the digital New Deal policy of the previous Moon Jae-in administration. Photo by Yoon Young-chan, Democratic Party member, and Park Yoon-kyu, 2nd Vice Minister

[Asia Economy reporters Minyoung Cha and Suyeon Oh] At the National Assembly Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee’s audit held on the 4th, ruling and opposition party lawmakers engaged in sharp exchanges over the reorganization of the Cloud Security Assurance Program (CSAP) grading system and the digital New Deal policy of the previous Moon Jae-in administration. Voices calling for government self-reflection were raised regarding 5G communication quality and mid-tier pricing plans. Both ruling and opposition lawmakers raised issues of responsibility and caution concerning the 'Network Usage Fee Act,' which they all participated in proposing.

Opposition’s Opening Attack: "Prime Minister Han Duck-soo Grants Privileges to Foreign IT Companies"

Opposition lawmakers expressed concerns that the Ministry of Science and ICT’s CSAP grading system revision announced last August would benefit only foreign cloud companies and create an opportunity for them to enter the public sector. According to the government plan, the current single-structure CSAP will be divided into grades 1, 2, and 3 based on data sensitivity. For grade 3, where only physical network separation was previously allowed, the plan is to allow logical network separation.

Democratic Party lawmaker Park Chan-dae pointed out, "It is expected that Amazon, Microsoft (MS), Google, and Oracle will be the beneficiaries of the relaxed certification," adding, "Foreign companies dominate 80% of the domestic cloud market, so isn’t this opening the door for them even in the public sector?"

There were also suspicions that Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, a former advisor at Kim & Chang law firm, influenced this background. Kim & Chang handles legal representation and consultation for many multinational corporations. Democratic Party lawmaker Yoon Young-chan also raised suspicions, saying, "The government claims the revision was requested by the industry, but this is the assertion of only some companies, including foreign ones," and "The actual discussion accelerated after Prime Minister Han Duck-soo mentioned the issue at a regulatory improvement meeting on June 17, and the Ministry of Science and ICT began internal review around that time."

The government stated that this is not a 'relaxation of certification' but a 'change in direction.' Park Yoon-kyu, the second vice minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, explained, "CSAP improvement is based on uniform standards, so we requested industry suggestions. We set the direction to change security standards according to data importance, like advanced countries such as the U.S., not targeting any specific company."

Ruling Party’s Counterattack: "Moon Jae-in Government’s Digital New Deal Was a Mess"

Kim Young-sik, member of the People Power Party, and Lee Jong-ho, Minister of Science and ICT

Ruling party lawmakers criticized the poor execution and insufficient results of the 'Digital New Deal,' one of the Moon Jae-in administration’s core policies. Kim Young-sik of the People Power Party said, "The Moon administration called it an 'innovation project to overcome unemployment,' but the results were disastrous," pointing out, "80% of the jobs were short-term part-time positions for students." He added, "Download counts and visitor numbers cannot be provided as performance indicators," and "More than 1 trillion won was invested, but the actual results were 25 cases worth 3.6 billion won."

Park Sung-joong, the People Power Party’s secretary of the Science and ICT Committee, also criticized, "Only the National Information Society Agency (NIA) received a budget of 1.7 trillion won, but the analysis shows it was a mess," pointing out, "There were 3,953 consultations, many of which were unnecessary." Numerous cases were found where high consultation fees ranging from 1 million to 5 million won were paid.

There were also calls to use the mistakes of the Digital New Deal as a mirror to preemptively review the Yoon Suk-yeol administration’s 'New York Initiative.' Kim Young-sik urged, "When investing over 1 trillion won, thorough demand surveys must be conducted," and "The new government is also promoting the digital platform government project, so please proceed in line with the direction." Democratic Party lawmaker Byun Jae-il pointed out that the minister does not even accurately grasp the future plans regarding the Pre-6G first technology demonstration included in the 'Korea Digital Strategy,' which contains the detailed plans of the New York Initiative.

5G Plans Draw Complaints, 'Caution' Emerges on Network Usage Fee Act

Jang Kyung-tae, Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker, and Lee Jong-ho, Minister of Science and ICT

Regarding public dissatisfaction with 5G quality and the need to expand pricing plans, both ruling and opposition parties voiced agreement. Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Young-joo mentioned the screen door malfunctions caused by high-power 5G repeaters in subway stations, stating, "The government should take a leading role in resolving conflicts between telecom companies and Korea Railroad Corporation." Many lawmakers raised issues about regional 5G quality dissatisfaction.

Regarding diversification of mid-tier pricing plans, Democratic Party lawmaker Byun Jae-il criticized, "The mid-tier plans released this time are not structured for users who used 100GB data to downgrade," adding, "They were created from the operators’ perspective." In response to Democratic Party lawmaker Jang Kyung-tae’s inquiry about the need for senior and youth plans, Minister of Science and ICT Lee Jong-ho replied, "We will launch customized 5G plans by the end of the year."

On the issue of network usage fees for global content providers (CPs), a hot topic in this year’s Science and ICT Committee audit, both ruling and opposition parties showed cautious attitudes and were reserved in their remarks. Democratic Party lawmaker Jang Kyung-tae said, "Trying to resolve conflicts between private companies through legislation itself is problematic," and "The controversy over network usage fees is not only a CP issue." Democratic Party lawmaker Byun Jae-il said, "Government intervention is necessary in market failures," but also urged, "The Ministry of Science and ICT, as the competent authority, should actively express opinions on conflicts related to network usage fees."

A verbal clash between ruling and opposition parties also took place. When People Power Party lawmaker Park Sung-joong said about the network usage fee discussions, "The opposition held a public hearing among themselves to collect network usage fees, but when Google, Netflix, and others jointly attacked as creators, they backed down," Democratic Party lawmaker Cho Seung-rae responded, "You should ask the ruling party’s position, not the opposition’s. They should clarify their positions and then be asked." Currently, seven amendments to the Telecommunications Business Act related to network usage fees have been proposed in the National Assembly regardless of party affiliation.

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