By Chung Ah-young





Jeong Chan-woo, vice president of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), speaks during a press conference to announce the government plan to simplify online payments at the FSC office

in Seoul, Monday. / Yonhap

The government said Monday that it will simplify an online payment service to facilitate foreign customers' use of Korean e-commerce transactions.



Jeong Chan-woo, vice chairman of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), said that it will provide an alternative authentication system for online commerce transactions as early as next month, which will not require public key certificates or Active-X tools.



"The outdated online payment system is weakening the competitiveness of Korean payment gateway firms against Paypal," he said.



The financial authorities already lifted the requirement of public key certificates for online payments with credit or debit cards for purchases of more than 300,000 won in May. But still consumers are required to use public keys when they purchase anything for 300,000 won or more for security reasons.



The government will lift the 300,000 won limit and develop multiple payment technologies.



President Park Geun-hye criticized the country's computer security requirements as a large number of Chinese customers who are the fans of the popular drama "My Love From the Star" wanted to buy clothes and accessories worn by the characters in the drama at Korean websites but couldn't because the sites required the certificates.



Recently, Alipay, an affiliate of China's largest e-commerce firm Alibaba, provided a payment channel for Chinese users who want to shop on local websites in cooperation with KG Inicis, a local payment gateway operator, and Hana Bank.



"The government will establish the online payment system in cooperation with credit card firms and payment gateway operators," he said.



The FSC will also cooperate with the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning to create a computer environment that will not require Active-X tools when customers choose the public keys from September.



In Korea, customers had been required to use a public key, which is used to produce digital signatures for e-transactions such as online banking and buying products priced at 300,000 won or higher.



Such obligations, which resulted in a Microsoft mono-culture in operating systems and Web browsers, had been blamed for locking Koreans into outdated technology, causing inconvenient services and high security risks.



Under the old regulations, foreigners had difficulty purchasing goods through the local online shopping malls because public key certificates were not available for them.



Currently, some online shopping malls such as Kmall24, G Market, 11st Street and Auction operate foreigners-only services which don't need the public keys and Active-X tools.