Hong Nam-ki: "Newspaper Circulation Manipulation is an Unfair Act Based on Personal Judgment... Fair Trade Commission Under Review"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, stated regarding the controversy over the ABC Association's newspaper paid circulation manipulation, "Personally, I think it is an unfair trade practice under the Fair Trade Act." However, he emphasized that the review and judgment of the Fair Trade Commission should take precedence.

On the 21st, during a government questioning session at the National Assembly, when Kim Seung-won, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, asked, "Isn't it true that it is strongly suspected as an unfair trade practice to receive advertising fees by misleading advertisers into believing that newspapers not distributed to readers are actually delivered to them?" Hong responded accordingly.

Hong said, "Personally, I think it falls under unfair customer inducement under Article 23 of the Fair Trade Act, but the Fair Trade Commission's judgment is more important than mine," adding, "After talking with the Fair Trade Commission, I heard that it is necessary to determine whether there is clear illegality."

He also stated, "It is appropriate to provide accurate statistics on paid circulation. There is a need to explore methods to compile the data fairly."

Hwang Hee, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, relatedly said, "We have completed the office inspection and pointed out a considerable number of issues, and we sent a recommendation to the ABC Association to improve by June," adding, "The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will increase the sample size of newspaper distribution offices to about 50 and conduct a re-investigation by June."

He continued, "Paid circulation disclosure serves as a standard, so we take it very seriously and gravely. We will strictly enforce the ABC Association's compliance with the recommendations and the re-investigation."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.