Disagreement Among Ministries on Onple Law... Seongwook Cho: "Fair Trade Commission's Proposal is the Government's Unified Plan"

Chairman Jo Sung-wook (file photo)

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] "'The Act on the Fairness of Online Platform Intermediary Transactions (Onpeul Act)' is a single and agreed-upon plan prepared by the government."

In response to inter-ministerial disagreements over the Onpeul Act, Chairman Cho Sung-wook of the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) personally stepped in to calm the situation. Chairman Cho emphasized that the FTC's draft of the Onpeul Act is a 'government proposal' that has undergone legislative notice, vice ministerial and Cabinet meetings.

On the afternoon of the 9th, Chairman Cho held a press conference at the Government Complex Sejong and said, "The Onpeul Act is a single and agreed-upon plan prepared by the government," adding, "The National Assembly will perceive the weight of the (FTC's) proposal differently."

The FTC previously issued a legislative notice for the Onpeul Act from September 28 to November 9 last year (40 days). Subsequently, through 12 rounds of consultations with related ministries and industries, it sequentially passed reviews by the Regulatory Reform Committee and the Ministry of Government Legislation. Last month, it passed the Cabinet meeting, received presidential approval, and was submitted to the National Assembly as a government proposal. The core of the act is to mandate platform operators and tenant businesses to prepare and deliver contracts, regulate acts such as coercing economic benefits, shifting losses, interfering with business activities, and retaliatory measures.

However, controversies have continued even after the FTC submitted the Onpeul Act to the National Assembly. At the 'Online Platform User Protection Act' forum on the 5th, Han Sang-hyuk, Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission (KCC), stated, "The KCC will also do its best to prepare user-centered policies that benefit the public." Considering the inter-ministerial turf war controversy, this was a principled stance, but it subtly expressed support for the 'Online Platform User Protection Act' previously proposed by Assemblywoman Jeon Hye-sook of the Democratic Party. Assemblywoman Jeon's bill argues that since the KCC is the agency responsible for information and communication technology (ICT), platform regulation should be led by the KCC. In response, the FTC maintains that the transaction relationship between platforms and tenant businesses falls under its jurisdiction. The gap remains unresolved.

Chairman Cho reiterated, "If you look at the Cabinet meeting minutes, they asked, 'Are there any objections? If not, we will proceed with the original plan,' and it was passed," emphasizing again, "The Onpeul Act is a single and agreed-upon plan of the government."

Regarding concerns about overlapping regulations pointed out by the KCC, he firmly said, "That is not the case." Chairman Cho questioned, "If it were overlapping regulation, could it have survived the reviews by the Regulatory Reform Committee and the Ministry of Government Legislation?" He added, "There is no overlapping content between the existing platform-related laws held by other ministries and the newly proposed Onpeul Act by the FTC."

Chairman Cho also expressed his intention to expedite the handling of platform-related cases. The FTC has completed investigations and sent review reports on two cases, including allegations of Google obstructing the installation of competing operating systems (OS). Chairman Cho said, "We will hold the first review on at least one of the two cases in the first half of the year." In the recently finalized Apple consent decree case, the plenary review was held three times. For the Google case, the FTC plans to begin a full review to determine illegality within the first half of this year.