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| ▲ Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Sarah Rogers attends a press conference at the Foreign Press Center in Washington on April 7, 2026. (Yonhap) |
US diplomat-Korea network act
U.S. diplomat 'optimistic' on cooperation with S. Korea over revised network act
By Song Sang-ho
WASHINGTON, April 7 (Yonhap) -- A senior U.S. diplomat on Tuesday expressed optimism about cooperation with South Korea in addressing the United States' concerns over a revision to the Asian country's network act aimed at tackling false online content.
During a press conference, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Sarah Rogers said that she had "productive" and "constructive" talks with South Korean officials about the amendment to the Information and Communications Network Act during a recent trip to Seoul. The revision is set to take effect in July.
After South Korea's National Assembly passed the revision late last year, Rogers had voiced concerns over it, saying the change could give regulators an "invasive license for viewpoint-based censorship" and would undermine technology cooperation.
"I had very productive dialogues on this topic, and I think overall, those dialogues were constructive and left me optimistic about our collaboration," she said during the press event hosted by the Foreign Press Center in Washington.
The revision seeks to stop acts of spreading illegal and fabricated information online. Some in the U.S. have raised concerns that it could affect major U.S. online platform operators, such as Google, X and Meta.
Regarding the act, the under secretary pointed out several elements of U.S. concern, as she underscored the need for continued discussions among the government and key stakeholders, including American tech companies, to address them before they go into effect this summer.
They include definitions in the act, which she said are "susceptible to interpretation," including definitions of "public interest" or "human dignity."
"Definitions we've seen in, for example, Europe. Sometimes there are vaguely drafted prohibitions that are imposed on large companies, and this leads to over-censorship of speech," she said.
"So we wanted to make sure that there would be kind of adequate phased back-and-forth between the governments and companies to limit potential over-censorship of speech. And I think my dialogues (in Seoul) left me quite heartened in that respect."
She also pointed out a provision concerning a regulatory framework for risk assessments and content management, raising questions over whether it could "unduly" incentivize tech companies to moderate speech.
"Every time you get an architecture like that, you get the potential for the shelling of the speech," she said. "But again my engagement with South Korean government officials left me optimistic on this note."
As U.S. officials have taken issue with South Korea's regulatory steps, concerns have emerged that the network act revision could come under scrutiny as U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is conducting trade investigations into South Korea and other trading partners under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act.
Asked to comment on the Section 301 investigations, she said she would defer to the U.S. Trade Representative in charge of the trade inquiries, but she stressed the importance of "reciprocal trade."
"What I would say is that reciprocal trade engagement and also the avoidance of undue digital barriers are both core features under our joint fact sheet," she said. "I hope that as we move towards implementation, we can honor those principles."
She was referring to the fact sheet that Seoul and Washington released in November to outline bilateral agreements on security, trade and investment.
The senior diplomat also touched on her discussions about partnerships with South Korea to advance U.S. shipbuilding workforce development.
"I think there's ongoing progress being made here," she said of bilateral cooperation, noting that a relevant exchange program will prove to be useful.
During her trip to Seoul, Rogers also met with a group of North Korean defectors -- an event that she described as "one of the most affecting moments of the trip for me."
"Most Americans, myself included, have no idea what it's like to grow up in the kind of place where free speech is a distant, foreign notion that you might never even hear of ... and listening to foreign broadcasts can lead to torture or execution," she said.
"So interacting with people who grew up in that kind of closed information environment and escaped it was very impactful for me."
She went on to say that the meeting with the defectors underscored the value of information access in closed societies.
Trump has recently nominated Rogers as chief executive of the U.S. Agency for Global Media that oversees Voice of America.
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