Naver chairman Lee Hae-jin has said that Google must pay tax in South Korea if it wishes to “utilize [South] Korean map data”. Lee also said that South Korean companies abided by law and paid tax, so Google should have to as well. Comparing the American search company to brands YouTube and Apple, he added that they do not disclose their earnings in the country, and so was “unfair for them not to pay tax in [South] Korea.” He also pointed to Google's demands that South Korea give the company a detailed map of the country, saying that it was “unfair”. These comments come at the same time as Google CEO Sundar Pichai said that the company would not pay more tax in Europe, where it faces controversy regarding alleged tax owed.Â
