South Korea: New chief says KFTC will crack down Tech Giants’ dominance

The new head of South Korea’s antitrust regulator on Tuesday, September 10, said the agency will crack down on tech companies over their abuse of monopoly power and dominant market position, reported the Korean Herald.

Joh Sung-wook, the chairwoman of the Fair Trade Commission, said in her inaugural speech that the move is meant to facilitate market innovation, but she did not elaborate. She said last month that the antitrust regulator has been looking into alleged unfair trade practices by two US tech giants, Google and Apple as well as South Korea’s top portal operator, Naver.

Joh said the Commission will tackle lingering practices by large companies to award lucrative business contracts to their subsidiaries.

According to the Korean Herald, South Korea has been pushing to stem unfair business practices and level the playing field for smaller firms in a country that has been dominated by family-controlled conglomerates, or chaebols, for decades.

Full Content: Korea Herald

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