Republic of Korea: Announced Measures Related to Overseas Online Platforms framework including investigation into compliance with data protection regulations

On 13 March 2024, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) issued the Measures Related to Overseas Online Platforms framework at the Emergency Economic Ministers' Meeting chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs. The framework aims to ensure that domestic laws are enforced without discrimination, including strengthening surveillance for violations of the law by overseas online platforms and promptly dealing with any violations. Under the framework, the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) will conduct investigations to ascertain the compliance of overseas online platforms with the Personal Information Protection Act, while the Korea Communications Commission will investigate whether they have adequately informed users about their smartphone app access permissions to prevent the unauthorised transmission of personal information. The PIPC stated that it aims to ensure compliance to prevent data leakage abroad.