Democratic Party: "Onpeul Act Must Be Enacted to Prevent a Second Timep Incident"

Park Jumin "Onple Act, Cannot Discuss Due to Government Ruling Party Opposition"

The Democratic Party of Korea argued that the Online Platform Fairness Act (Onple Law) must be enacted to prevent the recurrence of the Tmon and Wemakeprice (Timep) unsettled payment incident.

On the 29th, as the 'Unsettled Sales Payment Incident' of Wemakeprice and TMON continues, citizens are passing by in front of the TMON building in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jo Yongjun jun21@

On the 6th, Park Jumin, chairman of the Democratic Party's Euljiro Committee, said at a press conference held at the National Assembly Communication Office in Yeouido, Seoul, "One of the core factors of this incident is the excessively long settlement period," adding, "The reason why such a long settlement period was allowed is that users of the platform had no bargaining power against dominant operators."

He continued, "Since the 21st National Assembly, we have demanded the legislation of measures to enhance the bargaining power of platform users, including the Onple Law, but due to opposition from the government and the People Power Party, discussions could not even take place," emphasizing, "In the 22nd National Assembly, we will revise bills related to the Onple Law and ensure that such incidents never happen again."

Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Namgeun said, "Legislation must be enacted to ensure that the settlement period, which currently takes more than two months, is done immediately after delivery or does not exceed 14 days at the minimum," adding, "The Onple Law is designed to enable groups of online platform tenants to negotiate such terms, and the Democratic Party will make every effort to promote this legislation."

They also urged active moves from financial authorities. Democratic Party lawmaker Min Byungdeok said, "It is clear that the cause of the Timep incident lies with the financial authorities who did nothing despite being informed of the business condition, and the People Power Party and the Yoon Suk-yeol administration who opposed the enactment of the Onple Law," asking, "Is the government checking whether other shopping malls besides Timep are safe, and whether sellers and investors are secure even if companies with slowing sales growth do not receive additional investments?"

The Onple Law primarily regulates the relationship between platform intermediaries and sellers. It stipulates systems for negotiating transaction conditions and dispute mediation between intermediaries and sellers, as well as unfair trade practices on online platforms. In the 22nd National Assembly, lawmakers Kim Namgeun, Min Hyungbae, Park Jumin, and Oh Gihyung each introduced related bills as representatives.