Long ago, trade economists noted the best guarantee a developing economy to start playing by international rules is when it starts creating its own intellectual property worth defending. Korea is in many ways, has long ago passed that point. And yet, in some ways, it has not yet reached that development milestone. As I have repeatedly pointed out, Korea has yet to develop a market-defining product. It has produced hundreds of thousands of very good to excellent products, many of which have been significant improvements on the
Continue readingCategory: Korean Antitrust Law
CEO/Chairman of Chaebols Serving Time in Jail in Korea?
Things may be changing in Korea. The Chairman of Hanwha Group was sentenced by the Seoul Western District Court, today, to a KRW 4 billion fine and four years in jail for misappropriating/embezzling Hanwha Group funds. Hanwha’s Chairman Seung-youn Kim, a few years back, was convicted of beating a young man with a pipe and threatening the life of other individuals. The Korean Court System sentenced Kim to no time in jail for that offense and the president, eventually, pardoned Kim with a number of other presidents
Continue readingPhilips Fined by Korea Fair Trade Commission for Price Fixing
The Fair Trade Commission of Korea has fined Philips, a Dutch company, for price fixing. The Fair Trade Commission fined Philips KRW 1.5billion (USD 1.3 million) for, inter alia, prohibiting online retailers from offering discounts and certain products to potential buyers. Philips, according to the Korea’s Fair Trade Commission is the top small appliance company in Korea with a 57% share of the electric toothbrush market, 61% share of the electric shaver market; 45% share of the iron market; and a 31% share of the coffee-maker market.
Continue readingKorea Fair Trade Commission To Investigate European Car Makers
The Korea Times has reported that the Korea Fair Trade Commission is considering investigating BMW, Mercedes Benz, Audi, and Volkswagen for price fixing. The Korea FTC has aggressively investigated both foreign and domestic companies for allegations of price fixing and other unfair trade practices. The Korea Times article, in part, notes that: After monitoring the prices of BMW, Mercedes Benz, Audi and Volkswagen vehicles, the country’s most popular imported auto brands in that order, officials at the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said Wednesday there are reasons
Continue readingNonghyup Sues Korea Fair Trade Commission at Seoul High Court
The National Agricultural Cooperative Federation has filed suit against the Korea Fair Trade Commission at the Seoul High Court. Nonghyup is claiming that the monopoly prevention measures, imposed by the KFTC and Korean law, should not be applied to an organization with a main function of supporting struggling farmers. What do you think? The Korea Times reports, in part, that: The National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, otherwise known as Nonghyup, said Thursday it had filed a suit against the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) with the Seoul High
Continue readingKorea Fair Trade Commission to Investigate Korean Chaebols
The Korea Times has report that Chairman Dong-Soo KIM of the the Fair Trade Commission of Korea will strengthen its monitoring of Korea’s main conglomerates. We suspect that increased monitoring of major foreign-capital invested enterprises will, also, be the target of the increased monitoring. We strongly advise to have an attorney conduct a complete compliance audit immediately. The Korea Times reported, in part, that: Kim Dong-soo, chairman of the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), said Wednesday that the FTC will disclose fact sheets demonstrating dozens of conglomerates’ stock
Continue readingKorea Merger Remedies by Korea Fair Trade Commission
Earlier this year, Korea’s Fair Trade Commission has announced the amendment of its rules on merger remedies through the Notice on Merger Remedies. The amendment revises the prior Merger Remedies Guidelines. The most relevant changes are listed below. The KFTC will, only, utilize behavioral changes when structural changes are impracticable or may be ineffective. Structural changes, include, prohibition of a merger, divestiture and the transfer of intellectual property rights. The Fair Trade Commission has noted that the preferred choice will be divestiture and a merger injunction will
Continue readingFines by the Korea Fair Trade Commission Increases for Abuse of Market Position and Unfair Trade Practices in Korea
The Fair Trade Commission of Korea has implemented substantial amendments to its guidelines for imposing fines on companies doing business in Korea. The Amendments were detailed in a document the Fair Trade Commission of Korea calls the “Amendment Notice.” This Amendment Notice comes into effect on April 1 of 2012. The Amendment Notice will likely increase the fines imposed by the Fair Trade Commission. Prior to the Amendment Notice violations of the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act would result in lower fines than that authorized by
Continue readingPrice Fixing in Korea: Will FTA’s Lower Consumer Prices in Korea?
As booze and babies illustrate in today’s newspapers, the consumer price impacts by the EU & US FTAs may have been blown way out of proportions by both proponents and opponents of these trade treaties. The big price inflators are, normally, not duties but distribution costs and sometimes excise taxes. In time, some of the new import price savings resulting from tariff reductions may be passed on to consumers as more importers and distributors provide Korean consumers with foreign goods. But that will happen only so long
Continue readingFTC of Korea: All Bark and No Bite?
The Korea Times published an article, last week, on Korea’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC) that sheds light on a business and, also, consumer-friendly program offered by the FTC. The FTC has been, strongly, criticized by the main-stream for using the powers of the Commission to fight inflation in Korea in order to appease the Administration and the citizens. Some of the most liberal, now, are even claiming that the FTC is not going far enough. The FTC has no friends other than the Administration in near sight.
Continue reading
You must be logged in to post a comment.