Chairperson Ju Biung-ghi of the Fair Trade Commission said conduct such as Coupang's manipulation of search rankings "must be importantly included in the legislation on the online platform law."
On the 28th, the Chairperson appeared at the National Policy Committee's parliamentary audit and said regarding the Online Platform Fairness Act, "The Fair Trade Commission will cooperate as much as possible so that the National Assembly's legislation can be expedited."
The Online Platform Fairness Act centers on preventing unfair transactions by large platform corporations to protect onboarded businesses and consumers.
When Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Kim Nam-geun noted that legislation is needed to prevent alleged manipulation of Coupang's search rankings, the Chairperson signaled that the online platform law would include such provisions.
Earlier, Coupang was slapped with a 162.8 billion won penalty surcharge by the Fair Trade Commission on suspicion of placing its own products at the top of search results. Coupang has filed an administrative suit, saying it cannot accept the commission's disposition.
At the National Assembly, opinions also emerged that measures are needed such as a cap on platform-related fees, an upper limit on settlement deadlines, and granting onboarded businesses the right to collective bargaining to prevent unilateral changes to transaction terms. The Chairperson said the commission is preparing its own proposal and pushing for legislation.
When People Power Party lawmaker Lee Yang-soo said, "Over the past five years, conglomerate groups failed to disclose key management matters in accordance with the Fair Trade Act and received fines totaling 4.6 billion won," the Chairperson agreed with the gist of the point. The Chairperson answered, "I think it is a considerably serious problem."
The Chairperson said, "We are looking for ways to toughen penalties by treating repeated occurrences as an aggravating factor." The Chairperson added, "We will start with revising the notice first and, if necessary, consider amending the law."