Bangtongwi, Market Research Deliberation Officer Established and Organizational Restructuring... "Strengthening Market Management and Damage Response"

Lee Dong-kwan, Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, is holding a meeting with representatives of the three major mobile carriers on the 15th at the Korea Communications Commission in the Government Complex Gwacheon, Gwacheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, to share the Commission's user protection and fair competition policies and to listen to the telecommunications industry's opinions on key issues.

The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) is reorganizing its structure to strengthen the management of the broadcasting and telecommunications market and to better respond to user damages, including the establishment of a Market Investigation Officer.

According to the KCC on the 10th, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety recently announced a legislative notice for the "Partial Amendment of the Organization Regulations of the Korea Communications Commission and Its Affiliated Agencies," which centers on these changes.

Under the reorganization plan, the existing User Policy Bureau will be restructured into the Broadcasting and Telecommunications User Policy Bureau, with a newly established Market Investigation Officer under it.

The Broadcasting Market Investigation Division, previously under the Broadcasting Infrastructure Bureau, will be transferred to the Broadcasting and Telecommunications User Policy Bureau. The Terminal Distribution Investigation Team will be abolished and replaced by a newly created Value-added Telecommunications Investigation Support Team, and a Telecommunications Dispute Mediation Team will also be established.

The Internet User Policy Division will be reorganized into the Digital User Base Division, and the User Protection Division will be restructured into the Investigation Planning General Division.

The Market Investigation Officer will be staffed with five additional personnel, including one director-level official, three grade 5 administrative officers, and one police officer at the superintendent level. An Audit Officer will also be separately established, with three new staff members added in addition to the existing three employees.

The KCC explained that the reorganization is being pursued to respond to changes in the broadcasting and telecommunications market environment and the increasingly complex and diverse user damages, as well as to secure the independence and expertise of audit operations.

Meanwhile, the KCC recently revised the rules regarding the operation of KCC meetings.

The new rules specify that the committee meetings will, in principle, be convened twice a month, and include provisions allowing the chairperson to allocate speaking time equally among members to ensure efficient meeting progress and fairness in members’ speaking opportunities.