Large-scale overlap? South Korea's e-commerce regulations attract attention

With the recent listing of Coupang on the New York Stock Exchange, the rapid development of the Korean online platform industry, and the birth of Dekacon (a startup venture company with an enterprise value of more than $10 billion) , the demand for relevant regulations is growing. As a result, competition among government departments is intensifying.

However, there is great confusion as ministries and the National Assembly struggle with various standing committees over the new regulations . The biggest problem is that more and more regulatory bills are being introduced without sufficient social consensus and control, and concerns about overlapping regulations are also increasing.

Although the government held several seminars for full communication, the voices of the industry to which the law is actually applicable were not conveyed truthfully .

As conflicts between departments grow, there are concerns about overlapping regulations. The amendments to the Fair Trade Commission's E-Commerce Act overlap with the Science, Technology, Information, Broadcasting and Communications Commission's Online Platform User Protection Act , with typical examples being the exposure standards for public platform operators, the classification of advertising and non-advertising information, and investigations.

The revised E-Commerce Consumer Protection Act bill , which requires sellers to transfer personal information to buyers in the event of a second-hand transaction dispute, has also sparked controversy .

The industry and even consumers condemned it, saying , “It is hard to accept that the seller’s name and address are required for second-hand goods transactions and free sharing activities under 10,000 won.” The Fair Trade Commission later met with the industry and associations to sort out the matter, but no consensus was reached.

Separately, the Bank of Korea and the Financial Services Commission have clashed over control of electronic financial transactions as payment markets such as Naver Pay and Kakao Pay have grown.

There is also intense regulatory competition between sectors in the online video service ( OTT) sector . Currently, the Ministry of Science and ICT has proposed an amendment to the Telecommunications Business Act to designate OTT operators as "special types of value-added telecommunications business operators."

The competent authorities may be the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Communications Commission, but in terms of content production, the Ministry of Culture , Sports and Tourism may also legislate, which increases the burden on business operators.

At present, with the rapid development of online platforms in South Korea, various laws and regulations have emerged. However, only by truly understanding the platforms and the needs of the people and formulating relatively systematic regulations can they play a positive role.

South Korea

E-commerce regulations

overlapping

Regulatory competition