South Korea\'s financial authorities will strengthen protection for settlement funds held by payment gateway (PG) firms and tighten soundness rules to prevent a repeat of the TMON and WeMakePrice non-settlement incident. PG firms will be required to have settlement funds managed externally through bank deposits, trusts or payment guarantee insurance, with the external management ratio rising to 100 percent from the third year. Capital requirements and disclosure rules for large operators will be raised, and repeated business suspensions within five years could lead to license or registration cancellation.

The Broadcasting and Media Communications Commission released a draft enforcement decree for the revised Information and Communications Network Act, set to take effect on July 7. The draft would require self-regulation by platforms with 1 million or more daily active users over the prior three months and apply punitive damages to profit channels meeting specified posting, revenue and audience thresholds. It also covers open markets, delivery apps and open chat rooms.