[2020 National Audit] "YouTube Premium Family Membership with Discounted Rates Excludes Korea"

Minjoo Party Lawmaker Byeon Jae-il: "Discriminatory Fare Policies Must Be Improved"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] It has been identified that domestic users of the 'YouTube Premium' service, which allows watching YouTube without ads, pay relatively higher fees as they cannot enjoy the membership benefits offered in other countries.

On the 8th, Byun Jae-il, a member of the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, pointed out during the audit of the Korea Communications Commission that YouTube Premium operates a differentiated pricing policy in Korea compared to other countries, and that improvements are needed.

Currently, the monthly subscription fee for YouTube Premium in Korea is 10,450 KRW including VAT for Android phones and 14,000 KRW for iPhones. Although the basic monthly fee is cheaper than in the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, and France, the difference is that the 'Family Membership' is not available in Korea.

YouTube Family Membership allows up to five family members living in the same household (same residential address) besides the account owner to share the account, enabling up to six people to use the service with a single payment.

According to Byun's office, if a family of four in the United States subscribes to the YouTube Premium Family Membership on an Android phone for $17.99 (approximately 21,030 KRW), the four can share the service, resulting in a cost of about 5,000 KRW per person.

In India, using the Family Membership allows up to six people to use the service for around 3,000 KRW, effectively costing about 500 KRW per person for YouTube Premium.

On the other hand, although domestic users have access to the same YouTube Premium content as subscribers in other countries, they cannot receive the benefits of the Family Membership.

In response to inquiries from Byun's office, YouTube stated, "Since market environments vary by country and various factors are considered when launching products, it is difficult to specify the reasons why Family Membership has not been launched in Korea," adding, "Countries where Family Membership has not been launched include Venezuela, Belarus, Slovenia, Iceland, and Israel, in addition to Korea."

Byun criticized, "As of May to July this year, Google LCC accounts for 23.5% of the average daily traffic in Korea, indicating that many citizens use YouTube. Nevertheless, YouTube is deceiving domestic users by providing insincere responses regarding the non-launch of Family Membership, comparing Korea to countries with populations one-tenth the size of Korea."

He added, "We will ensure that the Korea Communications Commission thoroughly investigates and supervises the discriminatory practices of overseas operators with market dominance against domestic and foreign users," and "We will promote fee reductions for domestic YouTube Premium users through the introduction of Family Membership in cooperation with Google."