Standards have been set to impose a penalty surcharge of up to 6% of related sales on businesses that send illegal spam or neglect their obligations to prevent it, depending on the severity of the violation.
The Korea Media and Communications Commission reported on the 26th plenary meeting on the 29th the draft partial amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection and the draft notice establishing standards for imposing a penalty surcharge related to sending advertising information. These subordinate regulations are follow-up measures to the amended Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection promulgated in March.
The amendment classifies the severity of violations related to illegal spam as "very serious," "serious," and "ordinary," and requires imposing a penalty surcharge of 1% to 6% of related sales. If it is difficult to calculate related sales, a fixed penalty surcharge of 1 billion to 2 billion won may be imposed depending on the degree of violation.
It also specified the obligations of information and communications service providers to prevent illegal spam. If a business confirms that its service has been misused to send illegal spam, it must immediately stop the sending of advertising information or refuse to provide the service. It must also take necessary measures such as terminating user contracts and improving terms and conditions.
If a business entrusts the sending of advertising information to a mass text sender that has not obtained transmission qualification certification, fines of up to 30 million won will be imposed depending on the number of violations.
The draft notice calls for increasing the penalty surcharge by up to 50% for businesses that received a penalty surcharge for the same violation in the past three years. If a business makes a voluntary report, cooperates with the investigation, and takes measures to restore damages, the surcharge may be reduced by up to 50%.
The Korea Media and Communications Commission (KMCC) plans to promulgate and enforce the enforcement decree and the notice in Oct. after a legislative notice and review by the Ministry of Government Legislation.
On the same day, in accordance with the Seoul Administrative Court's recommendation for mediation, the Korea Media and Communications Commission (KMCC) also canceled the 2023 appointment of Kim Seong-geun as a by-election director of the Foundation for Broadcast Culture by the former Korea Communications Commission.
It dismissed the appeal of OBS Gyeongin TV, which had received a corrective order for violating license renewal conditions. It resolved to issue corrective orders to five home shopping businesses—W Shopping, Woori Home Shopping, NS Shopping, KT Alpha, and TRN—that failed to fulfill reauthorization conditions such as programming for small and midsize enterprise products and direct purchasing.
SBS M&C, a broadcast advertising sales agency, received a five-year license renewal. The Korea Media and Communications Commission (KMCC) imposed conditions, including requiring support of at least 3% of gross profit to aid regional and small terrestrial broadcasters' ad sales and to develop the broadcasting and advertising industry.