Google, Meta and Apple Executives Called for South Korea’s Parliamentary Audit
South Korean lawmakers have approved executives from major foreign technology companies as witnesses for the National Assembly’s annual audit, putting competition, privacy, online safety, taxation and data-security issues under scrutiny.
South Korea’s National Assembly is preparing to question executives from some of the world’s largest technology companies as its annual parliamentary audit begins this week and continues for nearly a month.
Representatives of the Korean operations of Google, Meta, Apple, ByteDance, X and Telegram have been approved as witnesses before several standing committees. Coupang, the US-listed e-commerce company founded in South Korea, is also among the businesses facing scrutiny.
Google Korea managing director Yoon Koo has been selected as a witness by three committees. The Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee plans to examine allegations that Google has engaged in anticompetitive conduct through its position in the app market. The National Policy Committee has scheduled Yoon for an Oct. 13 session concerning alleged exposure of digital sex crime victims’ personal information during requests to remove illegally filmed intimate material. A separate finance and budget committee is expected to question him about alleged tax avoidance by Google Korea.
Meta Korea managing director Kim Jin-ah is due to face questions from the communications committee over a personal data leak. Another Meta representative, Heo Ouk, has been called by the Education Committee regarding the role of social media platforms in the spread of so-called no-rules street fights. TikTok Korea head of operations Jung Jae-hoon is expected to appear over the same issue.
Lawmakers have also called Shin Chang-seob, country director for X Korea, and Oh Yeon-joo, who heads Telegram’s South Korean operations. Their questioning, scheduled for Oct. 12, is expected to focus on efforts to curb illegal online information, including narcotics-related content.
Apple Korea President Mark Lee has been approved as a witness for questions about the exclusion of South Korean users from precise GPS location features on Apple devices, as well as alleged app-market dominance and tax avoidance. Coupang Chief Information Security Officer Brett Matthes is expected to appear in connection with the company’s large consumer data breach late last year.
The witness list also includes major South Korean business leaders, including Korean Air CEO Cho Won-tae and Hanwha Group Vice Chair Kim Dong-kwan.
Approval as a witness does not guarantee attendance. Individuals may submit written reasons for not appearing under the law governing testimony before the National Assembly. Supreme Court Chief Justice Jo Hee-de, selected without the approval of the main opposition People Power Party, has already submitted a notice that he will not attend.
The broad range of requests signals that lawmakers intend to use this year’s audit to press both global platforms and domestic corporations on competition, consumer protection, privacy and corporate accountability.