Following the Political Affairs Committee and the Industry Committee, the third appearance request on the 21st
Kim Beom-su, Chairman of the Kakao Board of Directors, closes his eyes during the National Assembly inspection of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups held by the Industry, Trade, and Small and Medium Venture Business Committee at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on the 7th. Photo by Yonhap News
The National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee has summoned Kim Beom-su, Chairman of the Kakao Board, as a witness for the national audit. This is already the third time Kim has been summoned as a witness in this year's audit. It is unprecedented for a corporate head to be called to the audit this frequently.
According to the National Assembly and the IT industry on the 15th, the committee, through bipartisan agreement, has requested the attendance of Chairman Kim, Lee Hae-jin, Global Investment Officer (GIO) of Naver, Park Dae-jun, CEO of Coupang, Yoon Goo, CEO of Apple Korea, and Lee Jae-hwan, CEO of One Store, at the comprehensive audit of the Broadcasting and Communications Commission scheduled for the 21st.
Committee members plan to question Chairman Kim and GIO Lee about the portal AI algorithms. They are also expected to raise issues regarding the coexistence of small and medium content providers and suspicions of excessive fees charged by platform companies. There is also a possibility of continued scrutiny over Kakao Mobility's monopoly in the taxi market. The Broadcasting and Communications Commission is investigating allegations of preferential call allocation by the taxi-hailing app "Kakao T," including its dispatch algorithm.
Chairman Kim has become a regular guest at this year's audit. On the 5th, he appeared before the Political Affairs Committee and was intensely questioned about tax evasion suspicions involving K Cube Holdings, franchise taxi fees of Kakao Mobility, and infringement on local businesses. Then, on the 7th, he appeared before the Industry, Trade, Small and Medium Enterprises Committee, answering questions similar to those from the Political Affairs Committee and bowed his head. Although he was requested to appear at 4 p.m. during the Industry Committee audit, he was not questioned until nearly 7 p.m.
There is growing criticism that corporate heads are being summoned to government audits, kept waiting for hours, and subjected only to unproductive questions. Park Sung-joong, a member of the People Power Party, publicly stated, "If the Science and Technology Committee does not summon Chairman Kim as a witness after other standing committees like the Political Affairs Committee have done so, it would be a matter of losing face."
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