Trade feud with US reignited over Korea's online platform regulations

Korea and the United States are showing signs of entering another trade dispute over the former’s renewed attempts to regulate monopolistic online platforms. Amid growing calls in Korea to legislate an online platform law following Coupang’s massive data breach that affected more than 33 million users, the U.S. government and lawmakers have warned against the proposed regulations on digital services. A delay in Thursday’s closed-door meeting of the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement Joint Committee has also been attributed to Washington’s complaints about Seoul’s pursuit of digital proposals that the Donald Trump administration views as discriminatory. U.S. political news outlet Politico reported Friday (local time) that the committee’s first gathering since the updated Korea-U.S. trade deal was canceled due to “different views and opinions on digital policies,” citing sources familiar with the matter. The report came after Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo told reporters Wednesday that the meeting was postponed because both sides needed more time to discuss the details of the age