Will Dispute Over Naver Become a Bilateral Political Issue Between Japan and South Korea?

The Korean left is trying to turn a data leak dispute involving Naver’s Line app service in Japan into a major bilateral political issue:

Korean politicians are criticizing Seoul’s passive response to Tokyo’s apparent pressure on Korean tech giant Naver to sell its stakes in LY Corp., the Tokyo-headquartered operator of mobile messaging app Line.

They, from both ruling and opposition blocs, called the Korean government’s diplomacy “miserable” as it has not made any response while Japan is trying to “extort” technologies of the Korea-developed app, which has approximately 180 million active users in Japan and Southeast Asian nations.

Their criticism follows the Japanese government’s administrative guidance to LY to review its capital relationship with Naver after a massive data leak of user information. 

The guidance is believed to be an apparent pressure to lower Naver’s control over LY. SoftBank, which jointly owns LY with Naver, said it is talking with the Korean company about controlling the joint venture.

Lawmakers of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), who serve on the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee and the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, held a press conference Sunday, calling for a National Assembly-level response to Japan’s attempt to “extort Line” from Naver.

“The Japanese government’s actions are a clear violation of national interests and an anti-market outrage. It is time for the National Assembly to do its job. We demand that relevant standing committees be convened immediately and the Assembly deal with the matter,” Reps. Jo Seoung-lae and Lee Yong-sun said. 

“The Yoon Suk Yeol government should no longer turn a blind eye and respond proactively by upgrading this situation to a major diplomatic issue between the two countries.”

They also said the Korean government should take a strong stance, including summoning the Japanese ambassador to Korea.

Last week, the DPK called the Korean government’s response “a diplomatic disaster,” saying, “How long must we endure the dismal diplomacy that cannot even say a word of protest against Japan’s effort to take Line from Naver?”

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but what we don’t know is what the Yoon administration may be quietly trying to do in discussions with the Japanese side to advocate for Naver.