Fair Game Rule

Lee Hae-jin, chairman of Naver’s board of directors said on July 15 Google has to have a server in Korea and properly pay tax first if it wants to utilize Korean map data.
Lee Hae-jin, chairman of Naver’s board of directors said on July 15 Google has to have a server in Korea and properly pay tax first if it wants to utilize Korean map data.

 

“If Google wants to utilize Korean map data, it has to have a server in Korea and properly pay tax first,” said Lee Hae-jin, chairman of Naver’s board of directors in a press conference held in Chuncheon on July 15. “I mean not blocking global Internet companies from entering the Korean market but having a fair rule of the game,” Lee emphasized.   

According to Lee, it is not fair for Google not to pay tax money in Korea and use the funds for their technology development and service innovation and even demand Korean map data even though Korean companies obediently pay tax and honor laws and regulations with competition getting fiercer and borderlines becoming blurred in the world of the Internet service market.     

“YouTube does not disclose how much it earns through its video service in Korea. Google and Apple do not announce their earnings in Korea, either,” Lee pointed out. “I do not mean blocking their services like China. But it is quite unfair for them even not to pay tax in Korea.”     

“Global companies, if they want to launch their services, abide by rules in host countries,” Lee continued.  “To follow such rules in Korea, Google has to have a server in place. Google has financial power strong enough to install and run a server in Korea, doesn’t it?” Lee said.  

“Google demands that the Korean government change law, saying that they cannot do due to their algorithm and server technology,” Lee added. “It is quite understandable why the Korean government and people have to seriously discuss Google’s logic,” Lee said, referring to recently controversy over Google map service.   

“If Naver does the same thing, Naver will be definitely punished and put down,” Lee added. 

Lee also laid a finger on Google for its unfairness to demand that only Korea change its law although it respects law in China, Russia and Europe.  Earlier, Google asked the Korean government for a map drawn on a scale of 1:5,000 that can offer a coordinate with a margin of error of about three meters not an English-language map drawn on a scale of 1:25,000.  

The demanded data can support more detailed and accurate service based on precise locations, fueling a refutation that the Korean government should not give the data to the global search giant due to national security reasons. In addition, according to the Korean government’s explanations, production of such precise map data cost taxpayers’ money of millions of Korean won.

 

 



 

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