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Have you ever gone to repair a broken phone screen and replaced it with a new one because of the expensive parts price? As such unnecessary consumption continues amid corporate hype and government indifference, consumer rights are left behind and the environment is also affected. There is a growing demand around the world to expand the consumer's right to receive repairs.



Reporter Jang Se-man, an environmental expert, covered the story.



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is a private repair shop that fixes broken iPhones.



When the camera lens is broken, we repair it using used parts for around 100,000 won.



On the other hand, at Apple's official A/S center, you have to exchange it for a remanufactured product called a ripper, and the latest product costs more than 700,000 won.



This is because Apple insists that it cannot be repaired in parts and asks you to replace it in its entirety.



[Seungbong Baek/Private iPhone repair shop: (In the case of iPhone) Even if only the camera lens is damaged, it is a concept that replaces a used phone with full refurbishment or refurbishment



. how about



I went to fix the broken screen, and the service technician advises me to buy a new one.



[Samsung Electronics A/S center employee: (for liquid crystal replacement) 163,000 won comes out. There is no part that says that it won't break again later just because it's been repaired. A new cell phone is better.] The



government also played a part in receiving bad treatment for repair requests.



To secure consumer rights, the mandatory retention period of parts for each product is legally set. For general home appliances such as TVs and refrigerators, it is 7 to 9 years, but for digital devices such as mobile phones, it is only 4 years.



[Jeong Ji-yeon / Secretary-General of the Korea Consumer Federation: Manufacturers have all (parts and repair rights), and it is a structure in which consumers' various options are limited. .)]



In Europe and the United States, there has been a growing demand to extend the right to repair malfunctioning electronics, and legal protection has begun.



In addition, the ever-increasing amount of electronic waste and consequent environmental damage and greenhouse gas issues also had an impact on this.



Over the past five years, the amount of electronic waste worldwide has increased by more than 20%.



In Korea, the search for consumer rights is accelerating as it is included in the policy promises of presidential candidates following a related bill that expands the repair authority was proposed at the end of last year.



(Video coverage: Jeong Seong-hwa, video editing: Lee So-young, VJ: Park Hyeon-woo)