Seoul tells U.S. House: Online Platform Act stalled in parliament

South Korea's government has submitted a rebuttal to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, asserting that the Online Platform Act (Onplaw), which has drawn criticism from the U.S. as a discriminatory digital regulation, is currently not under active discussion in the National Assembly. The government's position, conveyed in a document sent on October 23rd, aims to counter a report issued by the committee on July 1st. This report alleged that the South Korean government had imposed excessive regulations, conducted coercive investigations, and levied heavy fines, particularly targeting Coupang, a major e-commerce platform. The government's rebuttal specifically addresses the claim that the National Intelligence Service coerced Coupang employees into traveling to China to obtain statements. It maintains that voluntary cooperation was sought and denies any directive to comply with such demands or any report to the President on the matter. The government also highlighted the joint fact sheet agreed upon by the South Korean and U.S. presidents, which affirms that no discrimination against U.S. digital companies exists, pointing to ongoing cooperation in areas like cloud security and high-precision map data export. Furthermore, the government contested Coupang's assertion that only information from "about 3,000 accounts" was stored, stating that its Personal Information Protection Commission confirmed the leakage of sensitive data, including addresses and purchase histories, for at least 37.55 million individuals – over two-thirds of South Korea's population. The government also defended the fines imposed on Coupang, arguing they were lower than the legal maximum relative to relevant sales, contrasting with the U.S. report's claim that the 624.6 billion won fine was disproportionately severe compared to penalties for other South Korean companies involved in more serious data breaches. The government plans to explain its position to key figures in the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, including Chairman Jim Jordan and Subcommittee Chairman Scott Fitzgerald.

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The bills regulating the monopoly of platform companies mentioned in the report were proposed in the National Assembly, but discussions are currently suspended.