Han Ki-jung, Fair Trade Commission Chairman, "Establishing a Fair Competition Foundation for Online Platforms"

Hanki-jung Fair Trade Commission Chairman Press Briefing
Strict Law Enforcement on Platform Market Monopoly
Revision of Screening Criteria to Block Reckless M&A Expansion

Han Ki-jung, Chairman of the Korea Fair Trade Commission, is giving opening remarks at a press briefing at the Government Sejong Complex on the 14th. (Photo by Korea Fair Trade Commission)

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Han Kijeong, Chairman of the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC), emphasized on the 14th that "we will establish a fair competition foundation in major markets such as online platforms."

On the same day, Chairman Han held his first official press briefing since taking office at the government Sejong Complex and said, "While fully respecting the creativity and innovation of online platforms, it is necessary to effectively correct the dysfunction caused by abuse of monopoly power."

He added, "Online platforms have unique characteristics such as multi-sidedness and indirect network effects, requiring a different approach from traditional unfair practices," and explained, "We will focus on investigating preferential treatment of own products and services, restrictions on multi-homing (use of competing platforms), and establish guidelines for reviewing online platform monopolies within this year."

He also stated, "We will actively identify and improve regulations that hinder market entry of innovative companies and excessively restrict business activities," adding, "We will discuss regulatory improvements such as easing restrictions on car-sharing business zones and relaxing participation criteria for public institution group meal bids, and announce the results in November." Regarding allegations of Kakao Mobility (Kakao T) favoring its affiliated taxi call (passenger call) service, a review is expected to be conducted by the end of this year or early next year.

Chairman Han revealed a rational operational policy regarding the large business group system. He said, "We will strictly investigate and sanction unfair support and private interest appropriation by business groups according to laws and principles," but also stated, "While maintaining the basic framework of large business group policies, we will improve unclear and unreasonable parts that impose excessive burdens on companies." The KFTC is currently gathering stakeholder opinions on a reform plan and plans to finalize it by the end of this year, with legislative amendments to begin next year.

Additionally, revisions to the Enforcement Decree of the Fair Trade Act to adjust the scope of relatives of the same person, and amendments to review guidelines to address safe zones for unfair support acts are also planned to be completed by the end of the year.

Han Ki-jung, Chairman of the Fair Trade Commission, is giving opening remarks at a press briefing at the Government Sejong Complex on the 14th. (Photo by Fair Trade Commission)

He also expressed intentions to strengthen consumer rights in the digital economy era. Chairman Han said, "Deceptive acts such as undisclosed advertisements on SNS, manipulation of user reviews, and empty box marketing, which can be regulated under current laws, will be intensively inspected and strictly dealt with according to the law," and explained, "Regarding dark patterns (deceptive tactics) such as automatic payments exploiting consumer negligence and making cancellations difficult despite easy sign-ups, which are insufficiently regulated under current laws, we are reviewing effective regulatory measures." In particular, several bills regulating dark patterns have been proposed in the National Assembly, and we plan to actively cooperate with the Assembly to ensure that the results of ongoing research are reflected in the legislative process.

Regarding disputes in consumer-to-consumer (C2C) transactions, he proposed that platform operators create their own 'dispute resolution standards' applicable to users, notify them in advance, and establish and operate 'fair and transparent procedures' to resolve such disputes.

He also mentioned measures to strengthen the fair trade foundation for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Chairman Han said, "During the process of promoting amendments to the Subcontracting Act to introduce a delivery price linkage system through government consultations, we will actively voice our opinions," and emphasized, "We will expand investigative infrastructure to strengthen detection of technology theft from SMEs and raise the cap on punitive damages."

Chairman Han also shared his views on internal organizational reform of the KFTC. He said, "We will prepare and announce plans for law enforcement innovation and organizational reform within this year," adding, "To enhance predictability and expedite case investigations, we will improve the law enforcement system by specifying investigation documents, and reorganize the organization to specialize the investigation, policy, and adjudication divisions."

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