Sungho Park, Chairman, Holds Press Conference on the 23rd
"We Must Move Beyond Ideological Political Debates"
Sungho Park, Chairman of the Korea Internet Corporations Association (K-Internet), stated on April 23 that the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Basic Act, scheduled to take effect in January next year, should be postponed for three years. He also emphasized to the new government that "regulation is not always the solution" and urged, "We must abandon the vague notion that simply enacting laws will solve everything."
On this day, Chairman Park held a press conference at the K-Internet conference room in Seocho-gu, Seoul, to mark the publication of the "2024 Internet Industry Regulation White Paper." Founded in 2000, K-Internet counts a wide range of domestic and international information and communication technology (ICT) companies among its members, including Google Korea, Naver, Kakao, Coupang, Netflix Services Korea, and Meta.
According to the white paper, now in its fourth edition, domestic internet industry sales in 2023 increased by 7.2% year-on-year to 632 trillion won, and the number of employees in the internet industry rose by 13.5% over the same period to 2 million.
During the 21st National Assembly's four-year term, which began in June 2020, a total of 492 legislative bills related to internet industry regulation were proposed. K-Internet assessed that the substance of these bills was lacking, as 8 out of every 10 proposed bills were discarded due to the expiration of the legislative term.
In particular, Chairman Park commented on the AI Basic Act, which passed the National Assembly in December last year, saying, "While I appreciate the establishment of a legal basis for fostering the AI industry, I am concerned about regulation. I have advocated for a three-year postponement, and recently a bill proposing a three-year postponement was also submitted." He added, "The government is currently gathering opinions on the draft enforcement ordinance, so we need to review that before making a judgment."
Chairman Park cited the mandatory watermarking of AI-generated content as an example. He said, "Imagine if a 10-second disclaimer had to be included in short AI voice content, or if a large notice had to be displayed in beautiful AI-generated videos. We need to reconsider the idea of marking all AI-generated content just because of deepfakes."
He stated, "We will request measures such as allowing exceptions or defining the scope of the law's application. Observing trends in Europe is also one approach. While it would be good if the law were postponed, I am not sure if postponement alone is the best solution under the current circumstances."
When asked what he expects from the new government, he said, "I hope politicians will move beyond ideological debates and unite with the industry. Regulation is not always the answer. We must abandon the vague notion that simply making laws will resolve issues."
He pointed out, "There are more than 5,000 regulations for CEO punishment and 5,000 administrative statutes. While we have followed advanced countries so far, now is the time for Korea to demonstrate its own leadership at a level that can guide advanced countries."
Regarding the appropriate level of regulation, Chairman Park stressed the importance of 'free competition.' He said, "In Korea, there is a belief that the collective intelligence of the people brings about social balance. Legislative processes must be approached with utmost caution, and we need to help consumers create a competitive environment."
He added, "The association is also considering what kinds of virtuous and effective policies could foster competition between domestic and foreign companies and enhance consumer welfare."
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