hankyoreh

A person walks through the offices of Line Plus, a Korean affiliate of the Line messenger’s operator LY Corp., located in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, on May 13, 2024. (Yonhap)

South Korea’s presidential office has belatedly vowed to “put the interests of Korean people and companies first” and “do everything” it can in response to what many call “unfair interference” by Japan over the management rights to Line. Seoul mustn’t let itself be swayed by Tokyo’s specious arguments for why a Japanese company should take over Line and must instead carry out its obligation to protect the interests of the Korean public and companies. Japan should also rescind its calls for Naver to cut ties with Line.  
 
In response to the debacle over Line, the most used instant messaging service in Japan, Sung Tae-yoon, the presidential office’s policy chief, stated Monday that the government will “provide maximum support” for Naver. While it is a relief to see the government finally issuing a statement on the matter, it deserves the criticism lodged at it for passively sitting on the sidelines as this situation has played out and only belatedly caving to mounting public pressure and putting out a pro forma statement
 
The hullabaloo over Line was triggered by the Japanese government, which has responded indifferently to South Korea’s gestures of good faith aimed at improving relations between the two countries. The Japanese government is attempting to remove the influence of South Korean capital from the messaging service, which has now become an invaluable part of Japan’s social infrastructure, following a data breach in November 2023.
 
The Japanese government is going beyond demanding that safety management measures be strengthened, but is demanding that Naver, which has substantial stakes in the messaging service, revise its capital relations with Line.
 
The logic presented by the Japanese government underlying these unreasonable demands can hardly be called rational, as it is claiming that if Naver, who has the upper hand in current capital relations, is entrusted with duties, LY Corp. — which runs Line and Yahoo! Japan — cannot thoroughly manage and supervise the service.
 
This is a bizarre argument that suggests that Naver, the creator of Line that has fostered the messenger’s growth, cannot be trusted, raising the possibility of violating the bilateral investment treaty between Korea and Japan. However, the Japanese government has once again changed its tune, saying that it has never demanded a change in capital relations for the sake of management control.
 
However, Naver and Tokyo-based SoftBank have a 50-50 stake in A Holdings, the parent company of LY Corp. Any change in capital would inevitably affect management control. Since Japan is running out of arguments based on logic, it’s resorting to irrational and unreasonable arguments.
 
We cannot help but suspect that the Yoon Suk-yeol administration’s groveling attitude on Korea’s diplomatic issues with Japan has egged on this brazen behavior by Tokyo. That seems evident in the fact that the administration in Yongsan has stayed mum on the issue for over two months since the story first broke, only now managing to put out some sort of declaration. 
 
To quell such suspicions, the government needs to take real action in response to this situation, not simply put out a press release to placate the public. Responding decisively to unfair measures put forward by the Japanese government to pressure a South Korean company will also help normalize South Korea-Japan relations in the long run. Japan should also stop making unreasonable demands that challenge the very foundation of capitalism and seek a rational solution.

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