Kim Taegyu Acting Director: "Terrestrial Broadcasters Partnering with OTT... Committed to User Protection"

Broadcasting Commission Holds New Year's Ceremony... "Presents Media Development Strategy"
"Activate Telecom Competition... Reduce Device Purchase Burden"

Kim Tae-gyu Acting Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission Yonhap News Agency

Kim Tae-gyu, Acting Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, stated on the 3rd, "We will do our best to establish policies that promote innovation in the broadcasting, telecommunications, and media markets while ensuring corporate social responsibility and user protection."

At the Korea Communications Commission’s New Year ceremony held at the Government Complex Gwacheon on the same day, Acting Chairman Kim said, "Cooperation between terrestrial broadcasters and OTT (over-the-top) service providers is becoming more active."

He mentioned cases such as strategic partnerships where terrestrial broadcasters release new dramas, entertainment, and educational programs on the Netflix platform, and where Disney Plus’s original series are regularly scheduled on terrestrial broadcasts.

He continued, "The center of gravity of content is shifting more rapidly to OTT and YouTube, among others," and analyzed that "traditional media has also jumped into the center of this change."

Acting Chairman Kim emphasized that "we must present mid- to long-term development strategies that align with changes in the media environment" and that a future-oriented regulatory system, including integrated media legislation, must be established.

Furthermore, he urged, "Please faithfully implement measures to prevent harmful information such as deepfake digital sexual crime materials and illegal spam so that the public can feel the effects in their daily lives."

He also said, "We need to promote market surveillance and institutional improvements regarding dark patterns installed online to deceive users, and examine whether users experience inconvenience or harm at each stage, such as subscription, use, and cancellation on major platforms."

He encouraged, "With the abolition of the Device Distribution Structure Improvement Act (DanTong Act), please do your best to take practical measures so that competition in the mobile telecommunications market is revitalized and the burden of device purchases on the public is reduced."

Finally, he pledged, "We will focus our policy capabilities on expanding media education and welfare for marginalized groups so that all citizens can use media without discrimination."