[Asia Economy Reporter Bu Aeri] Han Seong-suk, CEO of Naver, will appear as a witness at the National Assembly audit on the 22nd to directly explain allegations of manipulation of Naver Shopping and search algorithms.
The National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee summoned CEO Han as a witness during the Fair Trade Commission's comprehensive audit held that day. Among major domestic ICT company CEOs, Han is the only one appearing as a witness.
During the Political Affairs Committee's audit, questions are expected to focus on allegations such as manipulation of Naver Shopping search algorithms and forced commission fees on Smart Store, mainly raised by opposition party members including the People Power Party.
Earlier, the Fair Trade Commission imposed a fine of 26.7 billion KRW on Naver, stating that Naver manipulated shopping and video search results to increase the market share of its own services, causing damage to competitors and consumers.
A Political Affairs Committee official said, "Questions will mainly continue regarding the manipulation of Naver Shopping algorithms," adding, "Since the answers from Lee Yun-sook, CEO of Naver Shopping, were insufficient, CEO Han was additionally summoned."
Naver is fully denying the Fair Trade Commission's investigation results on algorithm manipulation. CEO Lee appeared before the Political Affairs Committee on the 8th and explained, "We did not manipulate shopping search rankings," adding, "The process of improving shopping search quality and enabling various shopping malls to appear may have looked like manipulation."
The issue of commission fees for Naver Smart Store is also expected to be raised. Previously, Yoon Chang-hyun, a People Power Party lawmaker, raised suspicions that Naver is effectively forcing commission fee burdens on small and medium-sized businesses entering Smart Store.
Lawmaker Yoon pointed out, "Since products are not exposed just by entering Naver Smart Store, small and medium-sized businesses also enter Naver Shopping, which has a 2% commission fee, to sell products," adding, "Some pay fixed monthly fees ranging from 3 million to 12 million KRW for entry."
In response, Naver stated, "To be exposed in Naver Shopping search, sellers must pay a 2% commission fee, the same as external shopping malls and open markets, but this is entirely the seller's choice," and "As of August this year, only 54% of Smart Store transaction amounts are through Naver Shopping."
The controversy over news search algorithms and portal article placements triggered by Democratic Party lawmaker Yoon Young-chan's message saying 'Tell them to bring in Kakao' may also come under scrutiny. Previously, People Power Party lawmakers from the Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee and the Political Affairs Committee visited Naver headquarters in protest, raising suspicions of news search algorithm manipulation.
Meanwhile, Lim Jae-hyun, Executive Director of Google Korea in charge of policy, will also appear before the Political Affairs Committee that day. Lim was also selected as a witness for the Science and Technology Information and Broadcasting Committee's audit.
Google announced that starting October next year, all payments made when using apps distributed through Google Play must use its own system (in-app payment), and it will charge a 30% commission. This policy, previously applied to game apps, will be extended to content areas such as music, video, and webtoons.
The Political Affairs Committee plans to examine whether Google's policy change constitutes an 'abuse of market dominant position.'
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