Korean startup industry leaders are calling for legislation to promote the domestic platform industry amid rapid advances in artificial intelligence technology.
Startup Alliance held a forum titled "AI Era, Major Shift in Platform Policy" at the National Assembly Library on the 25th to address the issue.
Choi Min-sik, professor at Kyung Hee University's Law School, delivered the keynote address urging the necessity of a promotion law in the era of national platform capitalism.
"Major countries are implementing policies to protect their domestic platforms to secure leadership in the digital economy," Choi said. "While competitiveness in 'platforms of platforms' such as cloud and AI infrastructure is a key factor determining national competitiveness, Korea still lags behind leading countries in both capabilities and investment."
Choi outlined principles for a Platform Industry Promotion Act: balancing regulation with promotion, self-regulation and private-sector standards, strengthening linkages with AI and data policies, enhancing foundational platform competitiveness while supporting small and medium-sized platforms, establishing policy coordination governance, and presenting basic principles for user protection. He argued for legal frameworks to cultivate talent and support overseas market expansion.
The startup industry welcomed these proposals, as bills currently before the National Assembly—such as the Online Platform Fairness Act with its caps on maximum platform fees—have focused primarily on regulation.
"Global models are likely to level up, but domestic platforms best understand data reflecting local context such as seasons, culture, and consumption patterns," said Choi Hee-min, CEO of Rapo Labs. "How we protect and utilize this data is directly tied to national competitiveness."
Sun Ji-won, professor at Hanyang University Law School, noted that "the key role of platforms is creating an environment where various participants including vendors and users can freely engage in economic activity." She added that "fragmented approaches to talent development, startup support, and technology innovation policies will struggle to achieve results."
Han Seung-hye, research fellow at the Korea Internet Corporations Association, added that "for platform promotion to go beyond declarative provisions, practical improvement processes involving the private sector and experts must accompany it."
However, concerns about regulatory overlap may arise since existing legislation already addresses platform industry promotion. Kwak Mi-kyung, head of the Digital Platform Team at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said existing ICT promotion laws already cover platform promotion, raising questions about whether separate legislation is necessary. "The Online Platform Fairness Act alone cannot comprehensively address platform industry promotion, so separate legislation is indeed needed," she added.