The National Assembly's Trade. Industry Energy. SMEs. and Startups Committee (hereafter the Trade. Industry Energy. SMEs. and Startups Committee) will summon Chung Yong-jin, Shinsegae Group chair, as a witness for the parliamentary audit set for next month. The Trade. Industry Energy. SMEs. and Startups Committee also plans to call as witnesses platform corporations such as Coupang, Baemin, and Yanolja, as well as the heads of Hyundai Rotem and Hanwha Solutions.
On the 25th, the National Assembly's Trade. Industry Energy. SMEs. and Startups Committee held a full session and approved the "2025 parliamentary audit witness consolidation list." The committee's audit will be conducted eight times from Oct. 13 to 29, covering the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC), the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency (KOSME), and others.
Chair Chung Yong-jin was approved as a witness for the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's comprehensive audit on the 24th. Rep. Kim Sung-won of the People Power Party applied on the grounds of "protecting domestic consumers' information on online platforms," and it was accepted. Earlier, on the 18th, the Fair Trade Commission conditionally approved the launch of a joint venture between Shinsegae Group's Gmarket and Alibaba Group's AliExpress Korea.
For the parliamentary audit scheduled for the 14th targeting the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Korean Intellectual Property Office, Park Dae-joon, CEO of Coupang, Inc., will also be summoned as a witness. The audit will examine Coupang's settlement method, fee deduction structure, and operations such as Coupang advertising. Kim Ki-ho, CEO of Asung Daiso, was also listed on the witness application roster. Lawmakers are expected to question whether there has been any damage to the industrial ecosystem due to unfair practices toward Daiso's suppliers.
To examine fairness in transactions between platforms and sellers, Cho Man-ho, CEO of Musinsa, and Lee Joo-cheol, CEO of W Concept, will also be summoned. Bom Kim, who leads Woowa Brothers, the operator of Baemin, was also listed as a witness. Lawmakers plan to question issues including unfair operation of delivery apps, shifting expenses to small business owners, and monopoly concerns in the delivery platform sector. Lee Su-jin, CEO of Yanolja, will also be summoned as a witness. The audit is expected to examine whether platform operators used their superior bargaining position to pass on undue losses to small business owners (lodging businesses), among other operational issues.
In addition, Lee Yong-bae, president of Hyundai Rotem, will be summoned as a witness in connection with issues related to technology theft. Nam Jeong-woon, CEO of Hanwha Solutions, is scheduled to be summoned as a witness for the Trade. Industry Energy. SMEs. and Startups Committee's second comprehensive audit on the 29th targeting, among others, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Korean Intellectual Property Office. Questions are expected to follow to verify the facts regarding allegations of technology theft during mergers and acquisitions (M&A) within Hanwha affiliates.