On November 5th, the 15th BESETO Law Conference, hosted by Peking University School of Law, was successfully held in an on-line forum. BESETO Law Conference is an important platform for the exchange and cooperation between Peking University Law School, Seoul National University School of Law and Graduate School of Law and Political Science, The University of Tokyo, and has been held by the three schools on a rotating basis since 2007.The meeting was held in three sessions, with the theme of “Digital Transformation and Platform Accountability”.

At the beginning of the meeting, Prof. Guo Li, Party Secretary of Peking University Law School, delivered a welcome speech. He pointed out that today, digital technology is constantly improving people's lives and digital platforms are playing an increasingly important role in social life, while the progress of technology has posed new challenges to society, and it is urgent to respond positively to the questions of “what digital platforms are” and “what kind of digital platforms are expected” from the perspective on legal regulation.

The first session of the conference focused on “Platform Accountability and Government Regulation”, hosted by Prof. Gen Goto, Professor of the University of Tokyo.

A.P. Sangchul Park, Assistant Professor of Seoul National University, presented “Ancien Regimes Impeding Rationalization of East Asia’s Platform Regulatory Framework: with a Focus on Telecom Regulations and Unfair Business Practices”. Noting that digital platform services are often regarded as VAN in East Asia, he suggested that the new digital platform regulatory framework should be separated from the previous system of Telecom Regulations and proposed measures and pathways to optimise the existing digital platform regulatory framework.

Prof. Dai Xin, Professor of Peking University Law School, lectured on “Marginal versus Structural Approaches to Platform Responsibilities”. He analyzed the theoretical components of platform responsibilities system, pointed out that the real-world platform responsibilities system is often a combination of rules with different degrees of strictness, introduced the marginal versus structural approach to construct and improve the platform responsibilities system, discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the two approaches respectively, and proposed a possible third approach.

The second session of the conference centered on “Platform Accountability and Competition Policy” and was moderated by A.P. Peng Procun, Assistant Professor of Peking University Law School.

Prof. Simon Vande Walle, Professor of The University of Tokyo, presented “Digital Platforms and EU Competition Law: Failure and Now a New Approach?” He noted that the EU's Digital Market Act was different in content from EU competition law and that there could be problems, such as the fact that the rules were derived from sector-specific antitrust cases, in order to determine whether they could be applied to companies with different business models and to see whether they could be effectively enforced.

A.P. Hu Ling, Associate Professor of Peking University Law School, focused on “Platform Subcontract in China”. He argued that a system of subcontracting between the government and platforms has emerged in China in the last decade, which can be understood from the perspective of organization and political economy. He pointed out that if we want to understand platform governance, we should not only focus on platform obligations and responsibilities, but also on the internal and external structures of platform responsibilities.

The third session of the conference, entitled “Platform Accountability and Labor Law”, was chaired by Prof. Jongik Chon, Professor of Seoul National University.

Prof. Takashi Araki, Professor of the University of Tokyo, delivered a lecture on “Worker Protection in the Era of Platform Economy”. He presented five methods of protection for non-employee workers and analysed the problems that each method might face. He argued that the need to protect non-employee workers should be clarified and that countries should choose the appropriate measures to provide the necessary protection for this group, while at the same time armonizing labor policies with other norms to provide better protection for all individual workers.

A.P. Sukhwan Choi, Associate Professor of Seoul National University, gave a presentation on “Digital Transformation and Various Types of Workers”. He introduced the complex labor relations that exist in Korea, citing the employment patterns of some of Korea's leading companies as an example, and explained why it is so difficult to protect workers in this new economic form. As to how to respond, he echoed Professor Takashi Araki's five approaches to protection and presented a range of social security measures in Korea. Finally, it was suggested that a fresh perspective on the protection of workers' rights and interests should be taken, broadening the scope of self-employed workers who need special protection, while also focusing on cross-regulatory measures, etc.

After three sessions of concentrated discussions, the 15th BESETO Law Conference came to an end. Prof. Jongik Chon, Vice Dean of the Seoul National University Law School, Prof. Masami Okino of Graduate School of Law and Political Science, The University of Tokyo, and Pro. Xue Jun, Vice Dean of the Peking University Law School, delivered their closing speeches.

Prof. Jongik Chon expressed his appreciation for the structure of the BESETO annual conference and affirmed that Peking University Law School had meticulously organized a rich and exciting annual conference, saying that everyone would be welcome to meet at Seoul National University next year. Prof. Masami Okino believed that this in-depth academic exchange reflected the positive response of law to digital transformation and platform development, and looked forward to meeting again at the next annual conference. Prof. Xue Jun said that platform governance and digital rule of law are important issues of common concern to scholars from the three countries, and topics such as personal information protection, platform liability, and protection of workers related to digital platforms are also commonly discussed by scholars from various countries, and he hoped to continue to discuss them in depth with his Asian counterparts in future academic exchanges. Finally, Prof. Xue Jun thanked the scholars from the three universities for contributing their excellent academic presentations to this year's conference and expressed his best wishes for the next BESETO Conference to be held at Seoul National University.

Highlights of the 15th BESETO Law Conference: