Jo Seong-wook: "A giant platform acting as both referee and player is the No.1 contestant in Squid Game"

11th Seoul International Competition Forum

Discussion on Competition Law Enforcement Measures in the Platform Economy with Major Competition Authorities Worldwide

Jongwook Cho, Chairman of the Fair Trade Commission. (File photo)

[Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] Chairman Cho Sung-wook of the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) on the 4th pointed out that "the giant platforms are like the No. 1 contestant in the globally popular 'Ojingeo Game' (Squid Game)."

At the 11th Seoul International Competition Forum held at Lotte Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, Chairman Cho said in his opening remarks, "The giant platforms abuse their dual role as both referee and player, distorting competition in ways favorable to themselves, such as manipulating the order of exposure."

He continued, "The No. 1 contestant abused the status of the host to decide the winners and losers of the game based on criteria they set, rather than fair competition. Similarly, the monopolization by platform operators creates a tilted playing field that restricts competition and raises concerns among many competition authorities that it could weaken innovation momentum." He emphasized the need to strengthen law enforcement and improve competition laws and systems to suit the new economic environment in order to establish a fair trading order in the digital economy.

Chairman Cho explained, "We are promoting the enactment of the Online Platform Fairness Act to enhance fairness and transparency in transactions between platforms and merchants, and revising the Electronic Commerce Act to protect consumer safety and choice in online transactions. We will also prepare guidelines for reviewing unilateral conduct in the online platform sector, specifying market definition criteria and market dominance assessment standards reflecting the characteristics of the platform sector, and presenting types of legal violations such as self-preferencing and multi-homing."

At the forum, discussions were held on ▲ competition law enforcement measures in the platform economy ▲ the role of competition authorities in the post-COVID-19 era ▲ competition and consumer issues related to data concentration in the digital advertising market. Olivier Guersent, Director-General for Competition at the European Union (EU) Commission, who participated as a presenter in the first session, introduced the case of imposing an interim injunction on Broadcom’s illegal conduct to swiftly block abuse of dominance in the rapidly changing digital economy. An interim injunction is a measure that obliges a business operator to stop illegal conduct when failure to do so may cause irreparable harm to the market.

In the second session, Rod Sims, Chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, introduced the establishment of a dedicated team to set refund standards for reservations in sectors closely related to COVID-19, such as airlines and accommodation, to remedy consumer harm. He stressed the need to strengthen cooperation between competition authorities and other government departments to promote competition-friendly policies even in crisis situations. The third session focused on the possibility that core platforms in the digital advertising market may restrict competition or harm consumer welfare through the process of collecting and utilizing data.

The KFTC plans to use this Seoul Forum as an opportunity to review the responses of major countries to establish a fair competition environment in the digital economy and to respond to key issues.

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