- First joint event between the Korea Fair Trade Commission and the OECD -
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (Chairman Han Ki-jung) held a conference with the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) on the theme of 'Generative AI and Competition Policy' at 1 p.m. today.
This conference was the first event hosted jointly by the Korea Fair Trade Commission with the OECD, and high-level, academic, and private experts from each institution attended to discuss competition issues and competition policy directions that could arise from the development of Generative AI.
Han Ki-jung, chairman of the Korea Fair Trade Commission, said in his opening speech, "Cooperation with the OECD is important to seek international countermeasures against competition issues and to enhance the international consistency of the discipline system." "This conference is very meaningful to prepare a competition policy direction and discuss the role of competition authorities to create a basis for preventing foul play by market participants and fair competition while innovative growth continues in AI-related industries."
In addition, referring to the AI policy report currently being pursued by the Korea Fair Trade Commission, Chairman Han Ki-jung said, "We hope that the policy report on competition and consumer issues will help innovative companies increase their predictability and establish a fair competitive order in the AI field."
"The OECD has played an important role in leading the international discourse on AI and competition," said Yoshiki Takeuchi, deputy secretary-general, adding, "The OECD has analyzed how AI affects market dynamics and competition through various meetings, reports, and policy guidelines, and international cooperation between competitive authorities is needed to solve new challenges."
In addition, Takeuchi Yoshiki, deputy secretary-general, introduced that "AI, data and competition" will be covered as the theme of the OECD Competition Committee meeting next month, emphasizing "the importance of continuous efforts to integrate these technologies (AI) into the regulatory framework," noting that "interaction between AI and competition" is a key area of the Competition Committee.
"The growth of the digital sector has raised new competition concerns about market function and competitiveness," said OECD Competition Committee Chairman Frédéric Jenny in his keynote speech, pointing out that potential competition issues such as barriers to market entry, interoperability, vertical combination, and self-preferential treatment could arise in the Generative AI market.
Since then, Chairman Frederick Jennie said, "As the AI technology environment is rapidly evolving, balanced regulation is needed to promote innovation while ensuring fairness in the market," stressing the importance of Advocacy to adjust various issues related to Generative AI.
Subsequently, in the first section of the conference, which was divided into three parts, presentations and discussions were made by Fredrik Jenny, chairman of the OECD Competition Committee, Hwang Tae-hee, a professor of law at Sungshin Women's University, Lee Joon-hun, deputy director of the Fair Trade Commission in Japan, Takahara Yusuke, vice director of the Fair Trade Commission, and Professor Shin Wi-roe, an economics professor at Chonnam National University, under the theme of "The Role of Competition Policy in the Generative AI Supply Chain."
Subsequently, in the second section, under the theme of "Compensation Issues and Strategies related to Data in AI models", the importance of data in AI, especially in the base model, solutions related to competition concerns due to data, and policy directions of competition authorities were presented and discussed by Professor of Seoul National University Law School, Ori Schwarz, Head of OECD's Competition Division, Lee Hwa-ryeong, Director of Economic Analysis Division at the Fair Trade Commission, and Choi Nan-seol-heon, Professor of Yonsei University Law School.
Later in his keynote speech, William Kovacic, a professor at George Washington University who served as chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, presented the competencies and capabilities required by competition authorities to regulate information service platforms under the theme of "Adaptable Platforms for Platform Regulation."
Under the theme of 'Ensuing Competition in Cloud Computing Services and AI', presentations and discussions were made by Fredrik Jenny, chairman of the OECD Competition Committee, Dr. Kim Hee-cheon, and Ko Sung-rim, an expert on the competition division of OECD, on the possibility of potential market distortions, competition concerns, and policy implications related to cloud infrastructure services.
"In order to solve the new challenges presented by the recent rapid development of the AI market, it is very important for individual competition authorities to not only fulfill the role of each institution, but also to have an opportunity to exchange information and opinions with international organizations, including the OECD," said Yook Sung-kwon, secretary-general of the Korea Fair Trade Commission, in his closing speech. "We hope that opportunities for exchanges and cooperation to discuss various competition law issues with the OECD will expand in the future."
The Korea Fair Trade Commission plans to continue to actively communicate with experts and stakeholders by referring to today's conference discussion, monitoring the laws and policy trends of overseas competition authorities, and seek directions for promoting competition policies suitable for the rapidly changing era of Generative AI.