Korea's Digital Market: Domestic Regulation and Global Impacts

South Korea is at a crossroads in its approach to regulating its burgeoning digital markets. Policymakers are evaluating whether to a) enact a legislative proposal called the Platform Competition Promotion Act (PCPA), which would impose ex-ante regulation in the mold of the EU’s Digital Markets Act; b) implement a “PCPA-lite” regime, incorporating per se rules into existing competition laws; or c) continue with the light-touch ex-post approach that until now has allowed South Korea’s digital markets to grow and flourish.

This decision will have consequences for South Korea’s overall competitiveness in an increasingly unstable geopolitical environment, and for its relationship with the United States, which has introduced proposals to counter Korean digital regulations targeting U.S. technology firms.

Watch now for an expert panel discussion on how South Korea’s regulatory choices will shape its future as a global tech leader, and what the broader implications will be for its strategic positioning in the U.S.-China rivalry.