Overview
- The National Court Administration said the Letter of Request cannot be executed under Article 23 of the 1970 Hague Evidence Convention due to Korea’s stance against pre‑trial discovery.
- Officials found xAI’s request for Kakao documents too broad and rejected blanket demands for “all related documents.”
- xAI had asked for financials, App Store rankings, revenue data, generative AI plans, and internal materials on how Apple’s policies affected distribution, including associated metadata.
- The decision slows xAI’s effort to collect overseas evidence for its suit alleging Apple’s App Store rules restrain super apps and are reinforced by Apple’s partnership with OpenAI.
- Authorities indicated cooperation may proceed if xAI submits a narrower, specific request, as xAI also seeks materials from other Asian super‑app companies through the treaty.